Piano
by Monster Mads
Summary: Sometimes forgetting is the hardest part. "Let me hold your hand through this whole mess," she wanted to scream, "let me take care of you." Anger, denial, acceptance - what doesn't kill you makes you stronger... Doesn't it? Pre-series / MakaxSoul.
1. Music In The Night

Reviews make for a happy author.

* * *

- - - - - -

A stirring from the window brought Maka back to her senses, and she lifted her head tiredly from where she was lying under the warm covers of her bed, checking the time on the large, red plastic clock above the door. 2:37 a.m.

Groaning, the blonde turned to look at the window. It was wide open, blowing in a cold draft that had already made serious damage with the papers on the desk near the small, oval shaped coffee table. They were now lying motionless on the ground, waiting to be picked up by the drained teen.

Lifting her head, she walked tiredly to the open window, reaching out with a pale hand to tug it shut.

It wouldn't budge.

Grabbing it with both hands, she shoved down hard onto the window, and it still wouldn't move. Maka allowed her hands drop to her knees as she inspected the white windowsill, glaring at it. She hated to wake the manager so late at night, but it would be unbearably cold in the morning if she didn't do anything. Besides that, she could catch a cold, and when she woke up this early, Maka was never able to go back to sleep, so she would be able to do nothing but sit down and freeze.

Sighing, and with great effort suppressing a scream of frustration, she slipped through the front door of her home without locking it behind her, and it shut with a barely audible _click._

Maka lived in an apartment, the clean brick building stretching stories upon stories high, and housing at least a hundred of the luckiest Shibusen students, since it was mostly paid for by the school. The spaces were beautifully decorated, and the only reason Maka had been able to take one was because her father was Shinigami's current Death Scythe. She didn't know a lot of people in the building, but she never really hung around there much anyway.

Her quiet footsteps were unheard by any of the other people, and loneliness bit at her toes, making her chew on her bottom lip anxiously. She hadn't been here too long, it was her first two weeks at the school, so she hadn't made any friends yet. Mostly, the blonde had no choice wander over to a book store and grab a hot chocolate, curling up for a few hours in a café by herself.

It had been silent for most of the walk towards the maintenance worker's place, but something was off. The air was disturbed, somehow, somewhere… a change was occurring…

And then she heard it. The nearly undetectable sound had immediately caught her. Soft, dulcet notes drifted into her mind, temporarily blinding her, and she would have tripped and fell on her face if the music hadn't stopped her in her tracks. Biting her tongue, she spun around, frowning, and the music cut off abruptly.

The song had made her heart ache. It had been solely piano, but she was sure that each sound spoken to her soul. It hadn't had any lyrics, but she could relate to it. Was that possible?

One thing was for sure, she hadn't wanted it to stop.

It had been deep, flowing and soothing but at the same time making you want to tremble and look over your shoulder. The dark tune was a twisted version of a classical piece, jazzed up by the change of tone in some places. She had never heard it before, or even anything remotely similar in any way. Crescendos had built up in all the right places, keeping her on her toes, but silence was reigning and she found that she didn't like it. Why had it stopped? Who could have possibly been responsible for such a piece?

It deserved its own genre at that point.

Reaching out with one hand, she murmured softly,

"Don't stop. Play for me."

And as soon as the last words were out of her mouth, the music started up again as if it had never halted, intensifying and pulling her heart three inches closer to her ribcage. She stood perfectly still, just listening to it, and eventually sat down in the cold air, her breath perfectly visible as she closed her eyes to better envision it.

It was louder than the soft soprano lullaby she had heard when she first entered the long hallway, much more consistent and faster than the other part, but without pausing, it felt like it was just verse number two. Pain, loneliness, fear, anger all drifted into the music as it got faster and louder before slowing and becoming quieter, the keys high and stunning. It hurt her, and then immediately healed her, before tearing her open again. And she didn't ever want it to stop.

Soon, her eyes drifted closed, and she drowsily glanced down at large clock hanging at the end of the hallway. It was 3:51 a.m., assuming the thing was even correct. The song had been going for almost an hour and a half now, but the time had seemed to float by. Nodding off, she slowly let herself fall asleep, and even in her dreams, which were of grandeur and ballroom dancing, it didn't stop. The song was her blanket. She wasn't even cold.

A few hours passed, and when she woke up, the beautiful melody was no longer playing. She was sure she felt the warmth of a tear fall halfway down her cheek, but not for any reason except that she couldn't listen further. And then her eyes widened as she realized it.

She had fallen asleep.

Ever since she could remember, she would occasionally wake up early in the morning, but had never once been able to fall back asleep, even with sleeping medication. Not once. Yet she had drifted effortlessly into that abyss by mere song; what a drug-induced sleep couldn't do, that song could.

Finally opening her light green eyes completely, she realized that she wasn't only in her pajamas; a large black coat was lying over her, making sure to even cover her toes, which were bare since she had only bothered to slip into flip-flops before running over to the manager's place. She hadn't expected to have a nap. A clairvoyant couldn't have predicted that song.

Taking a closer look, she noticed the initials stitched in elegant cursive silver thread directly over the heart.

_**S.E.**_

Clenching her teeth, her hands clutched the expensive black fabric hard. It didn't matter if it killed her; she would find out who had played that song.

- - - - - -

* * *

**A/N: **Review? As any veterans of this story might have realized, I've revamped this chapter, correcting mistakes, and all that jazz. _Piano_ was started because I was sick of one-shots, so please enjoy :3

**Disclaimer: **I tried to buy it on eBay, but I was outbid at the very last second. Damn that Shaw high speed internet! And he was right beside me, too!


	2. Investigation

Click and type to make my day!

* * *

- - - - -

Maka had wandered back to her apartment immediately, automatically worried about her belongings since she hadn't locked the door on her way out. It didn't look like anything had been taken, so she grabbed her keys, a hot water bottle made with a blend of white tea, and pinned her hair up into two pigtails behind her head before heading out the door, automatically reaching for the coat on the back of it before closing it and locking it. She was walking towards the manager's office for two reasons now; first was to get her window fixed, and another was to get a list of tenants in the building.

Slipping into the coat, she immediately felt the rush of heat hit her, and the cozy fabric felt soft against her skin. Looking down, she realized too late that she had put on the wrong coat. She was wearing the one she had found in the hallway, with the black suede on the outside and the equally dark silk lining the inside, genuine goose down insulating between . No doubt it had to be from one of the more expensive stores downtown; checking the tag, she grinned. Yup, it was from _Imperial, _or the "richies wal-mart" as she heard the other students call it when they passed by her.

She had seen this one in the window at a time, too, and it had also come with a matching wool scarf, a dark gray one. Thinking of this also reminded her of the hefty price and swallowed hard. Maka was never one to have trouble remembering things; it had been over eight hundred dollars.

Making her way down the hall, she came to a stop in front of a tall green door with the label "maintenance" carved into a silver plaque. Three quick raps on the door were followed by the creak as it opened, and a tall, thin man with shaggy brown hair answered. He was only about nineteen, but he could fix just about anything, and although he was lazy, he was still quite nice.

"Oh, hey Maka. What's up?" He asked the girl, having to look down because she was significantly shorter than him.

"Sam, I know this is a weird question, but could have a list of the tenants in the building?" She asked politely, staring him down despite having to look up to hold his gaze. He leaned forward, looking at her with a grin.

"Sorry Albarn, that's classified information! What would you need something like that for anyway?"

"Oh, I just found something on the ground with someone's initials on it, and I wanted to return it." Maka half-lied.

"Well if that's the case, toss it in the lost-and-found in the lobby downstairs and they'll take care of it from there." he replied helpfully, waving a hand.

"Okay." She answered. She was prepared for this anyway, and passed him the key to her apartment, the spare in her pocket. Or S.E.'s pocket, since she didn't plan on keeping it. It would never leave her conscience. And also, it was her justified excuse for her obsession with finding S.E.; she just wanted to return the coat. It was definitely made for men, so she knew to cross off any girls on the list.

'Actually,' She added as Sam waved and began closing the door again, and he stopped, poking his blond head back in, a curious expression on his face,

"The window in my apartment is jammed, and I can't close it."

"In this cold weather? Bummer. Okay, I'll grab my supplies and be back in a minute."

She tossed him the key just as he picked up his toolbox, and just as he turned around to re-lock the door, she stepped lightly on his foot, causing him to look down.

Letting out a mock scream, she looked at him with fake terror plastered over her face. If he locked it, she wouldn't be able to nab the list.

"D-did you see that mouse? It climbed right over your foot! Oh my god, this building doesn't have a rat problem, d-does it?!" She squealed. Maka felt good; she wasn't too bad at lying, even if she didn't like it. _But I'm only doing this so I can return the coat!_ She reminded herself as guilt began to drift in, distracting herself by watching while Sam's chill expression hardened. He grabbed up a small net and what looked like a broken mouse trap before going running down the hall, looking down ways and calling over his shoulder/

"Maka, don't worry! I'll catch that mouse, and then I'll take care of your window, okay?" He said just before he launched himself down the stairs. There was the harsh sound of a misstep, a short 'whoa!' and then crashing noises as Sam fell down the stairs in his haste, all while Maka repeated to herself:_ trying to return the coat_, _trying to return the coat, trying to return the coat._

Pushing past all the repair tools and other things piled up in the messy space, she searched through random papers until she found the folder with all the names for the people currently residing in the building, pulling out the names for all people with their first names under 'S'.

_..._

_Stacey Arc... 104_

_Sade Andrews... 316_

_Stephen Black... 008_

_Sarilee Cornere... 337_

_Sterling Capp... 222_

_Sakura Earling... 019_

_Siege Everall... 134_

_Soul Eater Evans... 110_

_Souris Du Fromage... 182_

_Sam Maanjose... Maintenance Room, 101_

_Sandra Taksun ... 395_

_..._

She messily scrawled the two names that caught her eye on her hand before copying down the room numbers on her other and charging out of there, nearly tripping over the coat on her way back to her apartment. No doubt Sam would be trying to find that mouse for awhile, so she thought she should probably visit the two apartments that she had copied:

_Siege Everall... 134_

_Soul Eater Evans... 110_

Room 134 was closer to her place, which was 136; they were directly across from each other; so that would be her first stop. Writing the words down on a piece of paper and then scrubbing them off of her hands took about five minutes and then she was out the door, knocking on the second one that morning.

- - - - - -

* * *

**A/N: **There's chapter two! Well, this was easier to write since even though the window in my bedroom isn't busted, it's always freezing in this place and I always have to keep my coat on. And then, since for some reason, the power at my place always seems to want to go out, everything went black, so I went over to Starbucks, brought a laptop, and read a few of my favorite kingdom hearts fanfics on my iPod Touch. Quick thanks to Starbucks for having wi fi! Okay, now quick shout out to the dude at Starbucks who woke me up when I fell asleep just before the place closed down for the day! Thank you so much to my two reviewers, Fantasy Fan Girl and Victoria Levi, you guys are too awesome to be explained in, uh, 'proper traditional English'.

**Disclaimer: **Let's run through this, okay? So, the adverb 'dis' is typically used for contradicting the meaning of other verbs and causing it to appear as the opposite. 'Claimer' verb is usually said to indicate claiming something, and in this case, claiming ownership. So, if you place 'dis' before 'claimer' in proper traditional English, the adverb acts as a negative to a positive and creates the new word, 'disclaimer' which is literally meaning 'to not claim ownership to', :D. Oh and by the way, I don't own Soul Eater.


	3. Lunch

Go on. Press the button. You know you want to.

* * *

- - - - - -

_Knock, knock, knock._

Her pale hands tapped on the door and she waited for a few seconds. They turned into minutes, and she sighed. _He's probably out, _she thought, looking at her feet, _most people with a life are right now. I could come back in a few hours..._ But she found she was unwilling to leave; she just wanted to find out who –_what_ kind of person would be able to make that sort of song. Whoever he was, she had to see him, at least once, before she could settle back into the normal routine of eating, reading and sleeping.

She dared to knock one more time, and before she could touch the door it swung open, and her hand hit someone's face. She pulled it back quickly, holding it to her chest with the other one as a look of horror crossed her face. What if she had just punched the person who wrote that song?!

_Who cares about who it is?_ Maka thought a second later, _some person just answered their door only to be punched in the face. What kind of message was that?_

"Ow! What the hell?" Were the words she heard from behind the mostly closed door. She couldn't see him yet, but immediately bowed and began to apologize.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I was just reaching out to knock one more time-"

"Who knocks that hard?" He asked, rubbing his face, but she could clearly see the long red-wine hair that hung just past his ears. He was wearing a white T-shirt, and when he took his hand away from his face, the area around his light green eye had darkened and bruised. She gasped, throwing a hand over her mouth.

'I really _am_ sorry, though, I don't know what I was thinking –ah, yeah, I guess I do knock a little harder than most people-" She began to ramble and he put a hand out to stop her.

"Forget it, its fine. Anyway –why are you here?"

"Oh –right. Can I tell you over brunch? My treat. I _did_ just punch you in the face, after all." She said weakly, and he cracked a grin.

"Okay, fine. Your treat."

Siege threw on a dark brown hoodie which didn't look nearly as expensive as the coat she had grabbed and a red scarf before locking the door as they walked out together. Making their way down the street, Maka quickly introduced herself and allowed him to do the same, even though she already knew what his name was.

They ducked into one of Maka's favorite cafés, and she ordered a pumpkin scone before letting him make his order, which ended up being a delicious looking grilled panini. They ended up being about the same price, so Maka didn't mind handing over the five dollar bill and not receiving any change after sitting down at a small table in the corner, Siege following behind her.

"So?"

He looked at her, bright eyes looking big and curious, and she sighed before bringing up the first question.

"Siege... do you play any instruments?" She asked him slowly, and he looked at her with a startled expression on his face.

"What?" he asked, a polite smile of surprise passing over his tanned features. Maka internally winced at how lame that had come out. Like an interview or something…

"I'm sorry, that was kind of a weird question. You see, I'm trying to find someone, and I thought you might be him." She explained herself quickly, and he looked at her with an even more bewildered expression before smiling weakly.

"Uh, sorry, but I mean, we just met… I hope you didn't think this was like a date or something–" He started and she felt her face warm up, waving her hands in front of her and telling him to stop.

"Oh no, that's not what I meant –I mean not like that, it's stupid really, but there was this person near my apartment the other night and he left something of his, and all I know so far about him is his initials and the fact that he plays piano, and he's got to be pretty rich I think–" she stumbled on the onslaught of words rushing out, and relief visibly crossed his face before he grinned and waved it off.

"Okay, okay, sorry for freaking out, I shouldn't have just assumed that's what you meant anyway. But I _am_ going to assume this: the initials are S.E.?" She nodded and he let his elbows drop to the table, chin resting in his hands.

"Well, I'll just clear it all up then to avoid anything else that might embarrass us." He laughed out, and she smiled gratefully. "First off, my name's Siege Everall, so the initials _do_ match. Second of all, nope, I don't play piano, or any instruments at all. I have a pet cat named Melon and I like to play basketball, but I'm not all that smart or anything, and definitely not rich."

She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, and waved her hand. "Oh, okay. Sorry about all this then. He left his coat in the hallway..." she held it up and Siege gulped.

"Man, I want that thing so bad...' he mumbled, thinking about how loaded he'd look walking around in that thing. "I can't afford it though. Last time I saw it in the shop, it was like, almost a thousand bucks, right?" She nodded again.

"So then do you think you wanna tell me what happened now?" He asked, looking genuinely interested, and she grinned.

"Sure. See, it all started last night..."

- - - - - -

* * *

**A/N: **Lol, I just sort of had to end it like that, sorry. Oh and btw, I'm writing this from my laptop at 6:00 AM, drinking tea with a honey bagel. I always thought I was a night person, but apparently I'm a morning one, too. Thanks for reading, and please review! Cookies for all! Short chapter, but ya'll can deal. To any fans of tea (I can't get enough of it), have you ever tried _berry blossom white?_ It's from Starbucks! If you haven't, you really should, especially if you're into the soft, subtle herbal-type flavor. Totally add a bunch of sugar (or not), but definitely don't add milk, trust me, you'll regret it.

**Disclaimer: **I found the deed to Soul Eater on the ground yesterday, so I stuffed it into my jacket pocket and started running home, but I slipped on a randomly placed banana peel and fell in a pond, and I couldn't find it after that. So, I guess the ducks own Soul Eater... or something like that.

That is to say, no, I don't own the damn thing.


	4. Seen

**A/N:** Well, I guess for the beginning of this chapter, it was basically a retelling of Maka's night the day before, just however she could explain it. You could probably skip it if you wanted to, but chances are, if there's a part of the story you would skip, you'll probably skip the AN, right? :P Chapter 4! Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** Well, I do own a 'S', and there's a 'O' floating around in the middle of my bedroom. I put the 'U' and the 'L' in my closet, and the 'E' won't stop bothering me for another piece of candy. The 'A' was misbehaving, so I sent it over to stay at a friends house, and the 'T' was a gift from my grandma. The second 'E' baked me muffins the other morning, and unfortunately, the 'R' recently passed away. Ahem. I don't care if that didn't make sense, it still doesn't change the fact that I don't own Soul Eater.

* * *

'Well, ever since I was little I would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to get back to sleep, never in my whole life. And last night, I woke at about 2:30 AM, and my window's jammed. So I start walking over to Sam's -the manager's- place. It was really cold, and even though I didn't want to wake him up, I was afraid I might get sick, and everything was closed anyway.'

Siege nodded. 'Sam- I know that guy. He's pretty cool.' Maka nodded too.

'But as I'm on my way there, I hear this song. Its really quiet, and you can only hear it if you listen carefully, but someone, in the middle of the night, is playing the piano.'

'Right.' He commented as people often do, just to show that they're listening. But the look on his face begged the question of how this tied to her ending up with his coat, and why it was so important that she find him. Maka shook her head.

'No, you don't understand. It wasn't just a song; it was... I don't even know how to explain it. It was like being trapped in a white room all your life suddenly for it to change rainbow; that song...' She trailed off.

'...It resonated with my soul.'

Siege's eyes widened and water went spurting from his mouth and right onto a particularly rich-looking woman's large up-do; needless to say her hair was now hanging in wet threads, and she spun around to stare at him in offended shock before throwing a ten dollar bill on the table and grabbing her bag and walking out of the store, followed by a scared-looking man in his mid fifties, most likely her husband. Both of them stared after her before bursting out laughing, but when they finally recovered, Siege's face was back to it's serious expression.

'But are you really sure it was soul resonance?' He asked carefully, staring at her, and she nodded, a curious look in her own green eyes.

'But why is that...'

'Maka, maybe you don't quite understand. Now, since you go to Shibusen, I'm going to assume your probably a Technician in training?' He asked, and she nodded.

'Okay then. That means that the other person you met is probably a scythe. But people aren't usually able to perform soul resonance until about a year into their traing, or a year and a half.'

'But why?' She repeated.

'Because of two reasons. First, it's a very complex technique that only two very experienced partners who trust each other deeply can perform, and second, because Tech's don't usually find their weapons until nearly the end of their first year, or the beginning of their second if they're a little late. And now you're telling me that your soul resonated with a complete stranger that you've never even met, never even _seen_? You don't even know his name-'

'Actually,' she interrupted, 'I do know his name, now I do. It was either you or him, it had to be.' Siege took a huge gulp of his water and then gestured for her to continue, and so she did.

'Soul Eater Evans.'

He must have spat it nearly seven feet across the room that time, because they were kicked out of the cafe, and Siege apologized to both of them as they continued down the street, Maka slipping into the _Imperial _black coat with the silver initials on it.

'That guy... out of all the people...' He shook his head in denial, his eyes shutting. She blinked, sipping on her hot chocolate, which they had allowed her to buy before they were kicked out. She didn't like walking down the cold street without something warm in her hands..

'Whats wrong with him?' She asked, but she had already known he wasn't going to be normal. Normal people couldn't play the piano like that.

'Soul Eater Evans was from one of the richest families in Death City, no joke. Like, in the top three.' Her eyes widened. But that wasn't all.

'...and a few years ago, the entire household was killed.' Maka's eyes widened in disbelief, spitting her hot chocolate right into someone's messy brown pin-up. By the look on Siege's face (shock, regret, but mostly undeniable amusement), it was the same woman he had spat on earlier. She slapped Siege before running off down the street, and a few seconds later her skinny husband was spotted running after her.

'Okay, we really have to stop doing that.' She laughed and he rubbed the side of his face,.

'Jeez, why'd she hit _me? _She's the second in one day..._'_ He complained with a laugh as they continued down the street.

'That's too cruel though, all killed... Why?' She asked, and he shrugged.

'Dunno. No one does. They don't even know who did it, the only other person there that survived was Soul Eater Evans, since all the staff were killed too. And I heard Soul Eater was shot too, but it obviously wasn't a fatal injury. They say it was probably an assassination, since they were really important people and all. Mr. Evans was the C.E.O. or a major corpuration that built weapons of mass destruction or something, and Mrs. Evans was a serious lawyer who had never lost a case. I don't know a lot of the details other than that...'

He looked over at a nearby restaurant, gesturing over to it. Hey, I'm just gonna run over there and use their bathroom, 'kay? Wait here or in there, I don't care, but make sure you're visible, I'll be back in a few seconds.' She nodded, and he sped off across the street.

She clung to the black coat, enjoying the smell. It mostly reminded her of a forest, pines and other evergreens, but it also had an almost dusty feel to it, like an old mansion. Sitting down on a bench, she smiled at the elderly woman who was already residing beside her, and the woman smiled back.

She could clearly see her breath, but she wasn't cold at all. The sleeves hung down two inches past where the ends of her fingers were, and she looked out across the street. But then her breath caught in her throat, and she went rigid.

Someone was crossing the street, in dark blue jeans and a black sweater with a dark brown overcoat hanging off the shoulders. He walked casually, but immediately stood out due to his odd appearance; the white hair easily earning him long stares from other pedestrians. He was tall, but not that tall, and looked reserved, meeting people's eyes but having to watch them immediately look away after a second. He turned to her direction, still not spotting her, and Maka gasped.

His eyes. Blood red.

She choked, staring after him, and his eyes drifted over the crowd passing in front of her, as if he was looking for someone. They passed over her, then shot back to look at her, and she stared at him desperately as his eyes widened. She didn't look away; she didn't want to. He recovered from his shcok as his eyes narrowed, and she reached out to him even thought he was across the street, but he turned away, walking faster than the normal pace.

'Wait,' she managed to whisper. Jotting down a note, she passed it to the woman beside her.

'I'm sorry to ask you to do this, but when a guy of about fifteen years, red hair, green eyes, brown sweater, passes over here, could you give this to him for me?'

The woman's eyes widened but she nodded, and Maka thanked her again before running off in the direction she saw him go, keeping her eyes on the brown coat.

She would catch him, no matter what.

* * *

**A/N: **Lol. Gotta love that old lady. She might possibly come in waaaaaaaay later, since I like her so much. Anyways, now you know why Soul's so anti-social, they did happen to mention that a) Soul came from a rich, successful family in the actual show and b) Soul wasn't always stupid and sarcastic, like the Soul we all know and love, right? It said that before he met Maka he was really withdrawn... Which is what I'm concentrating on right now :D And he's got a big part in the next chapter, which I'll probably release either tomorrow or the next day.

Sorry about promising to release this chappie on saturday only to do it on Monday, but I had forgotten that when I promised it on Friday, the next day was a weekend! And I always go to my Dad's place on weekends, where I have a different computer with the documents not on it. Plus,I don't want to release them daily or else it would go by too fast and people wouldn't have time to _review!!_ Lol. But to make up for it, I'll release another one earlier tomorrow, probably. Please review! No flames though, if you please.

I would also just like to take the time and mention all the people who have reviewed Piano, who have also been the ones that have been helping to keep this story up considering I wouldn't do a single thing if no one told me to. Thanks a whole bunch to Victoria Levi, Fantasy Fan Girl, Aneko Nomiya, Leena-Kun, snoWING, snowy-rose, otakugirl101, Koros, powerkitty and Dime Store Magic for all their support, and keeping me writing, at least up to the first four chapters. -sniff- I love you guys!!

_Peace Out,_

+Ma-chan


	5. Suspense

**A/N:** OC's are fun, aren't they? I've taken a liking to Siege. in the beginning, I thought about making him a real snob or even evil, but I decided we needed a nice new OC to help Maka out. But this story ends where the actual show starts, right? So that means all OC's must be gone by that time. So enjoy him while you can!

Oh, and for the summary, I realized the excerpt isn't from chpater 5, it's from chapter 6! So you'll have to wait another little while to see that part :P Sorry! Lol. Chapter 5! Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** Well, if it was opposite day, then I might be able to say that I do own Soul Eaters and all of its characters, and this would also be a claimer. but that would result in me _not_ getting a law suit from the people who _don't_ own Soul Eater. but that would also mean that I'm _not _wearing blue right now and that _I'm not even a girl,_ which kind of makes me a little sickened at that thought. It would also mean that the worl really _is _going to implode, my parents _don't_ love me, and all of my friends _aren't _alive and well. So i'm just going to stick with the good old fashioned disclaimer and tell everyone that, -sniff- I _don't_ own Soul Eater. But Siege and Sam... -laughs- Oh, they are both very much mine! -evil cackle-

'Yo, Maka?' Siege called out. The restaurant had been clear of all blonde, pig-tailed teenagers, and now the bench she had been standing beside was empty too. Had she gone home?

And then an old woman on the bench waved at him, gesturing for him to go over to her. He crossed the street, reaching her.

'Do you need some help with something?' He asked her politely and she smiled.

'No, darling, you do.' She told him and he looked at her like she might be crazy. She cackled, but it wasn't scary or malevolent, but warm and only a little bit creepy.

'The blond girl instructed me to give this note to you.' She told him, handing him the piece of paper. He took it from her gloved hands. 'Thanks.' He murmured, nodding to her before crossing the street, preparing to go back home. Reading over the note once more, he sighed. _Well, if it was me, I wouldn't let something like this go either._

The note read;

_Siege,_

_I saw Soul Eater Evans across the street_

_and he saw me, but he ran away_

_I'm gonna tail him, so I'll run by your apartment once I'm finished._

_Sorry for ditching you like this, I promise I'll make it up to you,_

_-Maka._

He sighed. Yeah, she would.

xxx

'Wait!'

She called out to the guy, but he just quickened his pace, not even looking back. She wasn't going to let him get away. She had to know if he had felt the resonance, if he realized what his music did to her.

'Why are you running away?!' She yelled, frustrated. He still wouldn't look back, even walking faster now. The crowd was thick, and there was about twenty yards between the two, so she was afraid that she might lose him in the crowd. Good thing he had that white hair, it really stood out.

'Listen to me! We have to talk!' She wailed after him, but it was mostly lost to the crowd. She checked her watch; no wonder. It was noon. She had woken up at about ten thirty on the saturday morning, gone out for brunch with Siege at about eleven, and now she was chasing Soul Eater Evans through the lunch rush.

'STOP RUNNING AWAY FROM ME!' She screamed, and he stiffened, finally, slowly, turning his head to look at her. The dangerous red eyes reflected fear and angst, tiredness and a deep sorrow, and even regret. But just as abruptly the eyes turned hard again, and he spun around just as quickly. She lost him in the crowd.

xxx

When Maka arrived back at her apartment, she was sweaty and tired, and it was only about 1:20 PM. It was a weird time to take a shower, but it was unavoidable, so she put away her things and ran the hot water, grabbing a change of clothes and set them down on the counter of the bathroom, ready for when she came out. Stripping down, she jumped in, and calmed down within one minute. Running the shampoo through her hair, she washed it out two minutes later and then just stood there for a while, thinking. Eventually she had to sit down because her feet were tired, and the water even started to run cold as she just sat there, knees up, hands curled around them.

She thought about what Siege had told her; that Soul Eater's entire family had been killed right in front of him, and even he had been injured. Yet when he played the piano, it was as if all of those emotions were just running free, painfully so. And she had felt them all, through the resonance. Even she had trouble with family affairs, though it was incomparable to his.

And she thought about how even though she had fallen asleep, he still had the mind to come out and even cover her with his own coat; a really expensive one at that.

But the look in his eyes on the street earlier had cut deep into her. He looked scared of her. Maybe by falling asleep to his song, she insulted him perhaps? Curling up even tighter, she wished she could have said something to him. Now she was feeling a little less confident about going over to his apartment later. She would wait for a while, and go and visit Siege first.

Finally rising from her cold shower, she turned the knobs and the water turned from a heavy flow to a light drip which was even a little bit disturbing. She dressed quickly, blow drying her hair but this time leaving it down. Guess it sort of matched her mood.

All she really wanted to do now was curl up with a good book and a hot chocolate/coffee drink before going to bed and sleeping in. Tomorrow would be Sunday. But she also wanted to go see Siege, and find out the truth about Soul Eater Evans, so instead of picking up her book, she grabbed her bag, keys, and her own brown jacket, instead of the black one she had been wearing for the last twelve hours. Checking the time, she saw that it was already 3:02 PM; she had been in the shower for an hour and a half, and hadn't even realized it.

Maka closed the door silently behind her before walking two steps and knocking on Siege's. The same sa last time, he waited a minute and she had to knock again before he answered.

'Hey, sorry about earlier-' she began, and he waved it off.

'Nah, it's fine, I probably would have done the same thing if I was in your position. Besides, I got the message, that old lady is really something, huh? Well, she gave me the note, and that's what matters, right?' They both laughed, and he waved her in.

'Wanna watch a movie or something, I'm kinda bored, and I don't really have anything to do today.' He explained, and she grinned.

'Okay. Do you have 101 Dalmatians?' She asked in a hopeful voice, eyes sparking. He groaned before laughing.

'Yeah, I do...' Maka wasn't sure why she liked that movie so much, she just did, and watching a movie with her first real friend made her feel happy. Suddenly, a small orange cat appeared from behind a potted plant and launched itself into Maka's arms as she struggled not to fall backwards, laughing.

'Damn it, Melon! It's your fault we hardly ever get guests around here!' He chastised, and the cat glared at him for a minute before resuming her purr-fest. They slid the movie into the DVD player and grabbed some popcorn out of the microwave before settling in and enjoying the movie.

They watched a few others and before they knew it it was already 7:00 PM.

'I'm going to go and try to get Soul Eater Evans to talk to me before he goes out, so I have to go,' She told him and he grinned.

'No prob.' He told her, and she nodded.

'See ya!' Maka called just before ducking out the door. She had eaten because they had ordered take-out, and now she was feeling more confident. Grabbing the coat from her apartment and ducking into the hallway, she found herself waiting outside another door. Taking a deep breath, she knocked.

Le gasp! Cliffie! Well, you guys are probably used to it by now, right? It's not much of a big deal since I release so often. There's not much to say right now... I upgraded my iPod Touch (better known as my prize posession- I even sleep with it, I'm not even kidding)... And now I can dowload applications! :D Thanks for reading, and please review!

_Peace Out,_

+Ma-chaaannnnn 3


	6. Up the Intensity

**A/N:** THE LONG-AWAITED CHAPTER 6!! Here it is!

Well, here's what I've got to say for today: First of all, for anyone else with an iPod Touch or an iPhone that can download aps, here are my top favs: 1. Trace ;; 2. Aqua Forest ;; 3. Tunnel :D I highly recommend getting all of them! I'm pretty sure they're all free except aqua forest... But that one is worth it, trust me. Now, Authors Note is called authors note because its a note written by me, the author. that DOES NOT mean you have to read it! Half the time its got nothing to do with the story! It's just a bunch of jumbled thoughts I threw somewhere random in the story! :D So, here goes:

There was this guy I sorta liked in my cooking class; he sat beside me and stuff and we'd laugh and joke around and get kicked out of the classroom together for being too loud; but he kept complaining about how he couldn't get a date (which I found surprising since he's pretty hot, he's even got an Eglish accent, no joke) and I'd sit there and grind my teeth, fake smiling and nodding sympathetically. After a while, we became great friends, and I realized I really didn't see him as someone I would want to date, just a friend.

And then he asked me out :O LOL.

But seriously, enough about me, really. Just for fun, I decided that I'm gonna put a hidden message in this chapter because it's sort of intense! So the first person to tell me in a review what it is get to... um... Oh! They can PM me an OC they wanna put in the story! They cna give lots of deets about them and I'll try to write them as well as I can, or just a few things and I'll do the rest, either if fine. Yay! A contest!... Lol. Long A/N o.o; Chapter 6! Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** I was sitting in Atlantis, playing cards with Mickey Mouse, when suddenly there was an earthquake! So I grabbed Mickey and ran over, jumped on a train shaped like a toothbrush, and was nearly killed by a flying carrot. After I downed a cup of cooking oil and changed into a blue hippo costume, me and Mickey went to Mars where we saved one and a half kittens from an avalanche and were rewarded the golden pizza of courage and the deed to Soul Eater- But then my cat ate it. So no, I don't own Soul Eater... My cat does 0.o

Three knocks and a **m**inute later, there was no answer. She could tell someone was home because at the beginning there had been a shadow covering the faint light filtering through from the bottom of the door, but looking through the small glass eye in the door and recognizing Maka, he must have just walked away. Growling, she knocked three more times.

No answer.

She was getting sort of frustrated, Taking out her fist again, she pounded on the door non-stop, and a minute of this passed before she heard a faint voice from the other side of the wall.

'And you're not going to stop until I open the door?'

'Nope.' She called back, still knocking. She heard a sigh and the door swung open, revealing the tall, white-haired teenager in the same dark jeans and black T-shirt. The red eyes were looking at her emotionlessly.

'What do you want?' He asked coldly, and half of her determination disappeared. _Calm down, M**a**ka. _She told herself. _He's going to try to intimidate you into leaving. Persevere! Carpe diem! I can do this!_

'Hey, wake up. What do you want?' He asked just as icely, and she shivered from the cold breeze in the hallway. For a second his eyes softened and his hand twitched on the doorframe as if he wanted to reach out to her, but he took a breath and stayed where he was. A rush of air passed through the hallway as the atmosphere intensified, and she shivered again.

'I-I... Please, let me come in?' she asked, taking a step forward. His grip on the door frame tightened, and he tensed.

'No.' He replied darkly, and she flinched. _I don't like this..._

_No Maka, persevere! You've dealt with worse than a stupid jerk like him before!_

'Soul Eater Evans... Y-you...' She began, and his cold eyes burned into her. She gulped, the **c**old air making her shiver again, and at that, he flinched before his eyes widened at his mistake. Her lips formed the slightest bit of a grin.

'You're not cruel at all, are you?' She reac**h**ed out for him, but he leaned away, glancing at her hand before looking back at her again.

'You don't want to talk to me like this, do you?' she asked. He growled **a**t her.

'You do**n**'t know anything about me.' He told her, and she shook her head, still smiling softly. She had been afraid, but when he flinched, she saw right through him. He didn't want to be so withdrawn. He looked as if he wanted to hug her. She wanted to hug him, too.

'You know that isn't true. You know... That it's the opposite. I know _everything_ about you.' His eyes widened, and he backed away, his a**r**m falling uselessly to his side, unblocking the doorway.

'N-no, you don't.' He said, shaking his head, and looking at the gro**u**nd. And she knew that she had won.

'Can I come in?' She asked softly, and he shook his head, still not looking at her.

'Why ask a question when you already know the answer?' She walked in.

The apartment was beautifu**l**, in a sad way. The gray marble walls were completely undamaged and perfectly clean, and the glass table in the living room had a bowl of fruit on it, and a remote, but that was all. Everything looked expensive, from the painting**s** on the wall, down the hard-wood floor. He had definitely done some renovation.

Running a hand through his white hair, he looked at her, clearly distressed.

'So **t**hen, what?' he asked her, looking right at her green eyes. She felt something inside her click, like s**h**e had done the right thing coming here.

'Of course you knew it was me who was listening to your song last night.' She said, and he sighed.

'Y...yeah.' He replied, not meeting her eyes. She whistled, and h**e** looked up.

'**W**ow. You look a lot more sure of yourself when you're crossing busy streets then when you're standing in y**o**ur own apartment.' She told him, recalling his calm, powe**r**ful stride in the way he seemed to dominate the entire street. She glanced at the clock on the wall; ten after seven. He looked away.

'So you heard me play a song. What does it matter? Why'd you come to my apartment? And how did you even know how to find me?' She sat down on one of the dark tan leather couches, and he fo**l**lowed.

'It matters more than you know. And you don't have a clue how hard it was to find out where you lived, trust me. But I knew I just had to. I just did.' His red eyes widened, he was so close, and she tried so hard not to, but she **d**id it.

She flinched.

He was off the couch in the blink of an eye, and half way across the room, staring at her with the same expressionless eyes he had been showing everyone else. She closed her eyes, anger boiling inside her, but not at him; at herself. That was too cruel of her.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that. It's just that you were so close-' He sighed, looking away.

'It's okay.' He told her quietly, no emotion in his voice. Is this how he acted toward everyone? He blinked, glancing to the wall, then to the floor again, but he wouldn't meet her eyes.

'...I'm used to it.'

Again, something inside her clicked, but it wasn't a feeling of doing something right like the last one was. This was the opposite. Just when he was beginning to think that she wasn't like everyone else, that she didn't see him as some crazed kid, insane from seeing too much death, and even accused of being his family's killer. His crimson eyes, that no one ever wanted to have to look at. She looked right through them. He didn't even know her name.

But then she had leaned away. When he had simply sat down and looked at her, she had winced; like his very presence bothered her. How had he been so wrong? He laughed at himself inwardly, a cruel laugh. _Simple_, someone said inside of his head.

_Because you're always wrong._

'Hey, can you... leave now, please? It's getting darker, I'm tired...' He lied, and he saw the hurt reflect in her green eyes before she composed herself again. Gathering her things, she walked over towards where he was standing next to the door, holding it open. Breezing past him, she paused, leaning in and staring right into the hard red eyes.

'You're not a monster... And your eyes leave me breathless.' She whispered to him as she passed. His eyes widened again, and he blinked, but when he opened his eyes, she was already out the door and gone. He had sent her away. Because he had misunderstood.

Right before she said the two things he wanted to hear the most, he told her to get out. He had completely and utterly misunderstood her. Soul had really thought she was acting, like the rest. Maybe she wanted money, that's what he had thought. There was that horrible laugh in his head again.

_Haha... Wrong again, demon._

* * *

**A/N:** Okies! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! For anyone who's seen a Booster Juice shop anywhere in their area, I highly recommend it. Tomorrow I have to go to a costume party, and I have no costume, so I have to go pretty quick and pick one up before I curl up in my bedroom and die. Why? Because... today is PTA meetings. Somebody, help drown me, quick! You can't get mad at a drowned person, right? RIGHT? I'M GONNA FAIL FRENCH! -Sob-

If the game was too hard, here's a ginormous clue. I made a few letters in there bold, and if you take only those letters and put them together, they say something! :D Isn't that totally original? LOL. Review please! It rocks my world ;)

_Peace out,_

Ma-Chan_  
_


	7. Silent Understanding

**A/N:** Well, this is the shortest chapter yet! I think I keep most of them at about 1200 words, and this is only about 800! Well, it mentions Twilight, which is one of my favorite books (I absolutely love vampires) so that's good, right? For any fans? Meh, I don't think it really matters. Sorry about the late update, buuuut my cousins came out! And they're twins. So we watched movies until early, then we made popcorn/marshmallow balls (really good btw), then we went shopping! And one of my favorite stores was having a huge sale so everything in the place was 75 percent off!

After that we went to my dad's place, and watched more movies. And then we went hiking! I almost fell off a cliff :O! It was madness! But after that we went to the beach, and then we went to the dump and I fell in a dumpster, and then we went to play with some donkeys at a farm, and I sat on one and she ran away. Oh and there's this ball in their pen, and if you kick it anywhere near them they freak out. One wouldn't stop running for like a half an hour,  it was so funny XD. Then we went to a great little cafe called Cafe Capanna, where we played a game of chess and then we went home :D It was pretty fun. Oh, and next chapter for AN, I'll post some songs that I'm listening to for fun :) Chapter 7! Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** Well, one day I really wanted to own Soul Eater! So I marched right over to the Soul Eater place, and I slammed my hand down on the desk and said, 'Hey! I wanna own this! So give the deed to Soul Eater right over here, right now!' And then guess what they did?! They kicked me right out of there! -sigh- so still no, despite my attempts, I do not own Soul Eater :( Maybe next time?

When Maka returned home, she was completely numb. What had she just done? It was almost like a hazy memory, or a dream she had had years ago and was just remembering now. When he had jumped away, she had just acted on instinct. All the walls were up around him once again, and she hoped that she had at least repaired a little of the damage she had done. She had just said two things that it seemed like he wanted to hear, and she just whispered them and breezed out cooly.

If he had followed her, he would have seen her blushing furiously, but luckily it didn't come to that. It was about 7:30 PM, so when she finally collapsed on the couch in her red shredded slippers, she was ready for some hot white tea and the latest _Twilight_ release.

When it was about 9:30 PM, she collapsed on the blue sheets that lined her bed, curling up with her green velvet rabbit her mother had given her before her parents had gotten divorced. She was so comfortable in her pink pajama pants and white T-shirt that she nodded off within seconds, but she knew that her sleep wouldn't stop there.

Waking up, she stretched her limbs and glanced at the clock; 3:02 AM. Slowly, she dragged herself from where she was sitting, throwing on her fluffy white house coat and slippers on before walking into the kitchen for some toast. But something was nagging at her now.

Soul Eater Evans. She still didn't feel comfortable referring to him by his first name only when she had only met him once, and he hadn't asked her to do other wise, but something still bothered her. She wondered... if he was playing his piano right now. It seemed he liked to do it at late at night than the day anyway.

Lightly opening the door and stifling a yawn, she walked out in the hallway as quietly as she could, tip-toeing down the hall towards his room. There was no sound, but she sat down next to his door anyways, hoping that he might wake up soon to play. Or maybe she would be able to fall back asleep, like last time.

A minute passed and she contemplated walking back to her apartment, but she decided to do what she had done last time, in hopes that he might, for some bizarre reason, hear her.

'Play a lullaby.'

_Ping. _The light, high key stirred the air, and a smile lit up her fragile face. The dark circles under her eyes seemed hardly noticeable at this point, she was so close from laughing. How did he know?

'Go.'

And then all at once, as if the maestro had finally lowered his conductor's stick, the piano broke out into a soft melody. It was mostly single-key solos, but the small harmony of the other ivory keys was faintly adding a hum to it that made it flow even smoother, if that was possible. Each key rang out within her mind clearly, and each had something to say. She could almost hear lyrics in her head...

_How do I manage_

_to see right through you_

_You mistake kisses_

_for fatal wounds every time._

She recited in a whisper to the beat of the music. Each word was pronounced and none flowed off from each other like a song, but she had begun to speak before she even realized it. Although Maka had never told anyone, she sometimes went over to her desk and wrote down a couple poems she had thought up while staring out the window, or stroking a stray cat that was wandering down the halls.

She was embarrassed, and she immediately assumed that they could never be good enough for presentation, so she had never told a single person. Not that there were many for her to tell, since her only friend since coming to Shibusen was Siege, who she had met only yesterday.

The key sequences changed and the song became quieter and more soft, and each note was just as pronounced as her lyrical confession had been. They were all very high sopranos, it was really a true lullaby.

xxx

His fingers drifted down the piano to the lower keys as the hum turned to a darker sound, while his other hand stayed near the sopranos, still keeping up the same rythm as before. Then all at once, both hands moved up to the highest keys where he played off a verse of an old Mozart piece that he hadn't touched in years but still remembered, though it was very different from the real one.

He could hear Maka's silent breathing through the door, since his senses were heightened due to his being of the weapon-compatible type of human. There was a change in Maka's slow movements as she began to shiver; the music cut off abruptly as he wandered over to the kitchen and threw tea on the stove. He continued the tune until he heard the faint whistle from the other room, and poured two cups full before brushing open the door.

**A/N: **Man, I went to a party on Friday, and naturally, I party all night, only to find out my friend hsting it's gonna move away the next day! So now my dear friend Savannnah is gone and now residing in Kamloops! -sob- Well, despite that, please review... I think you know the drill by now, right? Wait, that sounded sort of un-caring. I mean I care. A lot. Here's a poem I wrote to express what I mean!

I wrote this story,  
One Wednesday night,  
for late updates I'm sorry,  
but let's not start a fight.

my silent supporters,  
for all the ones who have fingers,  
I'd give out some quarters,  
to all the reviewers

But I don't have much money  
not much talent, so sad  
wow this poem sucks so bad  
its not even funny.

_Le fin._

-cough cough- the morale of the poem is review. What was that? That didn't make sense? Well, maybe its actually _you _who doesn't make any sense! Ha! See that? OH HO! That's right, you just think about that! Maybe we all live in this alternate universe, where I make sense, and you all don't! So there!

_Peace out,_

+Ma-chan!


	8. I Know

**A/N:** I think it's longer than the previous one, right? Just before anything starts, I'd like to tell everyone who reviewed THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUSOOOOOOMUUUUUCCCCCHHHH! OMGTHANKYOU!~ -cough cough- Ahem. Sorry 'bout that, I had to get it out of my system. But I'm just sooooo happy! I mean, 45 review! Almost 50 reviews! I'll have you all know that I read every single one of them daily. And I remember all your names, especially those who review, uhm, chapter-ly. You know, like annually, except I mean per chapter? You get the idea. Eigth chapter! Uwahhhh I'm happy. This is, I'm pretty sure, the farthest I've ever gotten into a story before, right? Oh, and pre-write count is up to 24 chapters, everyone! Yay!

For this chapters, 'random thing that Ma-chan tell everyone about for no reason since I doubt anyone listens anyways' topic, it's songs, just because I want to. Well, has anyone downloaded the application, or even heard of it, for their iPod Touch or iPhone, 'Our Stage?' It's a music app, and it's free, but it has a bunch of music sorted by genre that are low-profile or fairly new but really awesome. I listen to it all day, and neighbors yell at me for having it too loud, which is bad because I get yelled at, but good because it's a pretty cool thing to get yelled at for if you think about it. Well too bad for them, stupid old people! At least I don't play non-sense metal (no offense to its fans). Um, anyone heard the song 'Stardust Hotel' but Yourself and the Air? Or 'Quicksand' by Squid? If you haven't, search them on Limewire or iTunes because I doubt they're on youtube. And to any indi-rock fans (one of my fav's ;) search the band the 'Stars', or look for the songs 'Elevator Love Letter' or 'Calender Girl', you'll eat them up. But I've rambled enough, hey? I've probably doubled the word count x.X Lol. Chapter eight! Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** That's all I should really have to say now though, if you don't know what it means, look it up. In a dictionary. Or if you are one of those people who don't own dictionaries or its stuffed waaaaaay back in your closet like me, then google it. -sigh- Or refer to... chapter three I think maybe? I can't remember where I placed the definition. Ugh. Meh. Bok. I DON'T OWN IT, OKAY? GET OFF MY BACK! AHHH MONKIES ON MY BACK! GET THEM OFF! THEY'LL THROW PUDDY AT MEEEEE! AGH! OCTOSQUIDS, EVERYWHERE? NOOOO SAVE ME! ...I don't understand what just happened either. Neither does my sister or brother, or my parents or my cat or my imaginary pet moo cow.

For everyone who skipped all that, I don't own Soul Eater.

The second Maka felt a slight tremble in her body, she automatically slowed her breathing to try to suppress it. But she couldn't help it; she shuddered as a particularly strong draft whipped around the corner of the hallway, and the music stopped immediately. She silently cursed the cold, curling up and waiting for it to start again. A few seconds passed and the song started from where it left off, and she forgot that it ever stopped.

A few more minutes passed before the song broke off again, but in a more elegant style this time, signifying that the song was over. She let out a shaky breath, still shivering, when suddenly the door opened and she saw Soul Eater Evans standing in the doorway holding two cups of tea.

Handing one glass to her, he collapsed on the ground beside her, taking a long sip and not making eye contact. She knew he must still be angry about what she had done earlier; maybe her attempt at trying to make him feel better as she had walked out the apartment had only made things worse, but he finally took one more long gulp of his tea and looked at her head on, the crimson eyes inspecting her own ordinary green ones.

He didn't let her read them; his eyes, of course. The brick walls that left his eyes looking almost statue-like were right there, blotting out all feeling, but she was pretty sure he was testing her, seeing who would look away first. He wanted to see if she really regretted flinching away when he had first looked right at her; she'd have to prove it to him.

One minute passed; then another, and finally, Soul Eater Evans looked away with a faint smile on his face, as if he really couldn't believe it. She looked down at her tea and took another sip; still, neither person had said a word. Yet they had already come to a silent agreement; he forgave her, but didn't trust her; she understood him, but still didn't approve.

One thing Maka was sure of was that pity would only make him feel worse. So matter how much sympathy she felt towards him, she would act the same around him as she did around Siege, minus the communicating with their eyes part. Maka took another last sip of her tea, and then said casually,

'So are you done playing for the night?'

His head shot up and he looked at her strangely, and then came the puzzled reply,

'Do you want me to be done?' She shook her head, a warm smile lighting up her facial features.

'Not a chance.' And then even he smiled, and they both got up as he gestured for her to follow him.

She sat down once again on the leather couch, still clutching the warm tea cup, and he filled it before sitting down on the piano bench. She gasped when she first saw it; the last time she had come in, she couldn't take her eyes off him, so she hadn't seen it. Now, it was in plain sight in all it's glory, and Maka was blinded. Her heart beated joyously from the inside of her chest as excitement took over, and his fingers hit the keys, working down until he found the right stance. Then they slowly lowered and he began to play.

She was sitting on the couch with her tea, but what she really wanted to do was go over and watch. Standing up, she deliberately made her way over to where he sat; his eyes were closed, so he was playing from mere memory.

Opening his eyes, his fingers slowed down so it was a quieter melody as he spoke up,

'Want to help me?'

She stared at him blankly and he grinned, gently taking his hands off the keys and placing hers on them. His hands were bigger than hers, but they were cold. She didn't flinch, and watched curiously as he placed her hands in the same places his had been only seconds before. Then he pointed to an ivory key.

'Tap that one.'

She did as she was told, delighted by the beautiful sound it made. Maka was sitting beside him, and his feet held down the pedals at the bottom of the white masterpiece as he instructed her to hit another, and another. Soon she was playing a much slower version of the piece he had just played, and couldn't resist from laughing out loud. He smiled right when she did, and it pleased her when she thought maybe he became happy when she was.

His fingers joined in, playing harmony to her own, while the other hand pointed to each key. Soon they were playing an even more beautiful version of the lullaby he had been performing earlier, and she laughed and smiled. Maka had no idea that playing a piano could be so much fun.

Standing up, she let him take over, and began dancing, totally on impulse. She was totally out of it, laughing at something that was definitely not funny in the least, and even Soul Eater Evans started laughing as well. She liked the sound; she had never heard it before. Not a lot of people that were still alive had.

Grabbing his cold hand from the piano, they began ballroom dancing to an imaginary beat, and she let him lead since she really wasn't very good at it anyways. They were both laughing hard now, and after a while they both collapsed on the couch, clutching their sides as they tried to calm themselves down. Maka drifted off to sleep after a bit and he did the same after a few seconds.

Her house coat had been left behind in the hallway, and she wasn't cold in the slightest in her T-shirt, even though he had a window open, leading to a beautiful view of the city. Her head was leaning on his broad shoulder, and though she would be embarassed to admit it, there was one thing she was sure about after that night:

It was undeniably the best sleep she had ever had.

**A/N: **Wow, that was fin to write! I was drinking out of my beautiful dark blue tea cup and my favorite type of tea which mysteriously makes me want to write chapters for this story, 'Berry Blossom White' from starbucks, naturally. Never had it? Go buy some. But now we're all out! And my mama is running away because she feels unappreaciated, so my dad's staying with us for a few days. Relaly, I think my mama just wants and excuse to run off to her sister Stacy's place up in the mountains because they have a mansion and a pool and the cutest baby girl you've ever seen (unless you've seen a picture of me when I was younger ;D Jk.) Hope you enjoyed, please review!

**Review Count:**

Oh wow, I'm so proud! But this will take a long time, I think. All of my prescious reviewers have been divided into two groups: Regulars, who review almost each chapter, and odd reviewers, who are DEFINATELY NOT ODD but you know what I mean. They are those who've reviewed less than three times. So, here we go.

_-7- Regulars (those that I worship):_ Fantasy Fan Girl, Leena-Kun, Maka'Albarn, Moonfire Fox, zomgwtflol, Powerkitty and Dime Store Magic!

_-14- Odd Reviewers (who are really not all that odd, just simply awesome): _ Aneko Nomiya, snoWING, snowy-rose, otakugirl101, lovedreamergrl, myhiddenlove08, lunarshikari, , Daft Punker, merichuel, dark insanity 13, Mikki05, and Koros!

_Extra-Special thanks to Victoria Levi, who was my very first reviewer and now resides alone on the fourth page of the reviews section! Rock on, Vickie!_

_Peace Out,_

+Ma-chan!


	9. Parallel

**A/N: **YOOO! Wats up, everyone? Did everyone have a fun Monday and Tuesday? Well, I didn't anyway. Turns out I have to get a root canal, and they hurt, really badly. Oh wait... That kind of gave me an idea for a future chapter! Kay guess it was worth it then, hey? Ya, no. I'm freaking out. Oh, and I got glasses! Well, reading glasses, anyway. A nice addition to my appearance... Nawt. Well, I'll get over it. SO! Random thing that I have to say besides that? Well, my mom ran away coz she feels unappreciated and now my dads gonna stay with us for a while! Which I think I might have mentioned already, but whatever. Short authors note this week o.o. Chapter nine! Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** I never claimed that I owned the disclaimer! I never claimed that I owned anything besides this sandwich! -Smashes the disclaimer-. I DON'T OWN IT FOR GAWDS SAKE! I DON'T OWN SOUL EATER! STOP SPREADING RUMOURS!

* * *

Yawning, Maka's eyes slowly opened as she took in her surroundings. She was lying in her pajamas with an inhumanely soft blanket laying overtop of her, and she wasn't cold at all.

'Yo, sleeping beauty. About time you woke up.' Her eyes widened in shock and she rolled over to look over into the large room. There was no way that Soul Eater Evans would ever say something like that, and she became even more shocked when she saw Siege's light green eyes sparkling with amusement from halfway across the room as he waved at her.

'W-what are you doing here?!' She called out, alarmed. Could it be that Siege was friends with Soul Eater? Or maybe the earlier few hours had all been a dream, and she had fallen asleep with Siege while they were watching movies. The red-haired teenager held up his hands in a mock surrender.

'Easy, Albarn. I was looking for you, you left your sweater at my place yesterday, and you weren't answering your door. I saw Soul grabbing his mail out of the boxes in the lobbey when I was going to go out for breakfast, and I asked him if he had seen you. Then he did the strangest thing. He actually _smiled_.'

Siege looked puzzled when Maka started laughing, and she decided not to tell him of last nights events. Curling up, she glanced out the window at the city; it looked beautiful. Glancing at her watch again, she noticed the time. Already 11 AM.

'Hey, where is Soul?' She asked Siege, trying out the easier nickname. He grinned.

'He's in the kitchen, making pancakes.' Her eyes widened.

'B-blueberry?' She asked him, and Siege laughed. 'Go ask him yourself, Maka.'

She stood up and stretched, staring down as she realized that she was in a designer apartment with two guys, and she was in her pajamas. Hiding a blush, she rushed into the kitchen before Siege could laugh at her further, and Soul greeted her warmly.

'Hey Maka.' He said, glancing at her with a faint smile. He still had his eyes carefully guarded, and she let out an inner groan before looking into the mixing bowl sitting on the counter, ready to make more. Two pancakes were currently being flipped over by Soul as he grabbed the spatula and expertly turned the pancakes before resuming his quick movements as he beat the pancake mixture.

Maka walked over to where the stainless steel fridge sat in the corner, opening it wide and taking out a carton of blueberries before rinsing them in the sink. She took a large handful of her favorite fruit before glancing up at the curious red eyes.

'May I?' She asked and he nodded, so she opened her hand and let them drop into the mixture. He grabbed the current pancakes sitting on stove and slid them onto a plate before grabbing the syrup and letting them both drop onto the glass dining room table, where Siege was ready with a napkin tucked into his shirt and a knife and fork in his hands.

'Free-loader,' Soul muttered, grinning, and Siege laughed.

'Less talk, more pancake.' he replied, digging in as the white-haired teen placed the plate down on a place mat. The first one was gone within seconds, and he was already into the second. Maka burst out laughing when she saw his face afterwards. He was smiling like an idiot.

'What are you looking at? Is there something on my face?' He asked in a mock-nervous voice, barely managing to finish his sentence before laughing along with her. His face was covered in pancake and syrup.

'I want to go to the bookstore in a while and pick up a few books, so I have to be out of here in a bit.' The two nodded and Soul ran into the kitchen, returning with the blueberry pancakes. Breakfast was fun and although Soul barely spoke, he did seem to be enjoying himself and that's all that mattered. Then an idea lit up in Maka's mind.

'Soul,' she called out, and he looked up from his pancake curiously. 'Yeah?'

'Will you... play a song for us?' She asked timidly, and he visibly paled in front of them. Staring at her for a second, he let all his emotions flash into existence in his eyes for a moment before letting the walls block her view of his mind, and he gulped. All Maka had caught was terror and anxiety, and she immediately regretted asking him.

'N-no... sorry.' He said, and Siege slapped a hand on Soul's back, causing him to wince.

'Oh, that's right! you play the piano. Maka was raving about your amazing talent the other day. Come on, one little song wouldn't hurt you, would it?' He asked, and Soul looked panic-stricken.

'I-I...' He stuttered before standing up. 'I've got to be somewhere right now.' And then he rushed out the door, opening it and pulling it shut so fast it was a blur. Siege stared after him blankly, clearly puzzled.

'Was it something I said...?' He muttered, and Maka shook her head.

'I'll be right back.' She called to him before turning around to walk out the door, flashing him what she hoped looked like a reassuring grin.

'Don't worry about it, just stay here, eat another pancake.'

And then she was in the hallway, looking for Soul. He was nowhere in sight, and she began running down the hallway until she came to the stairs. Running down them, she stopped the white-haired teen as he walked out of the building.

Running over to the door, she wrenched it open and caught his hand, which he ripped out of her own harshly, whipping around to glare at her. Her resolve shattered, and he immediately realized his mistake and tensed, looking troubled.

'... You're kind of stupid, Maka.' He muttered, looking away, and she cringed. Her eyes widened before looking up at him, hurt reflecting in them. Then she spun around and ran back to the apartment, pulling the door open and rushing inside, not looking back once. His hand reached out as if to stop her, but she was already gone. He looked down at the ground, shaking his head in denial.

'It's better if shes mad at me.' He muttered before turning around, and dragging himself down the street, not really sure where he should go. So he just wandered.

* * *

**A/N: **There you go! A bit short, yeah yeah, I noticed, but we'll all live. None of us have terminal diseases, now do we? So everyone can just sit back and live happily ever after. Except me, dman root canals. I'd also like to point out how so amazingly happy I was to recieve so many reviews! It ended up being seventeen for the previous one. Gaaaawwdd... I'm so proud! Thanks you guys! You rock! I would've updated sooner, but the stuff with my mom and yeah... Didn't get the time! Sorry!

Other than that, I'd like to announce a celelbration is in order now, since this fanfic is now longer than my previously longest fanfic '_Cat Got Your Tongue'_ and also has more reviews than that one! My my, 64 reviews? Agh! I'm so happpppy!! Anyways, CGYT is on hiatus right now because no one would reviews, but it does not seem to be a problem here, huh? This story is better than that one anyway. Hope you enjoyed, and thanks _once again_ for the reviews, I hope it continues!

_Peace out,_

+Ma-chan!


	10. December 19th, Pt 1

**A/N: **Ah, this one isn't so bad? Not too short I mean. They actually tend ot get longer actually, the more I write, but unfortunately, we have a very short one coming around the bend. I think it might be IIX, or possibly IIIX, maybe neither of those. Oh well, we'll figure it out when they get released. Oh and by the way, my Mom came home. I was lying on the couch watching Arthur (Man I hated that show when I was littler but when you watch it when your older it's funny as hell xD) when my Mom just walked in the door with a quick, 'Oh hi everyone!' I hit my head on the ceiling I jumped so high. Gawd, she gave me no warning at all! And I looked yucky 'coz I was sick, so needless to say, I was freaking out.  
Right, and I'm sorry about such a late update! But it's really not my fault. My internet is called linksys (like a lot of internets are called, since its a default name) but someone hacked it and put a password on it, so it was down for two days, when I was planning on updating on Sunday afternoon. It's up and running once again under a new name now, with a password I actually know, so here's chapter 10! Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** Well, I went out to buy it, so now I'm the official owner of Soul Ea... BLEACH? Damn it! I bought the wrong one!

By the time Maka reached her house, tears were rolling down her face. She wiped them away angrily. Her, sad? Because of someone like him? As if! If anything, she was angry!

But denial wasn't healthy, she knew that. She sat down on the couch, the scene repeating over and over in her head.

_'You're kinda stupid, Maka.'_

She glared at the lamp beside her, just because she needed something to glare at. She didn't know that asking him to play was such a taboo, he always seemed as though he enjoyed it so much! And she definately didn't know about that side of him. Even when she had leaned away, clearly upset, he just stood there, his red eyes resembling blood more than how they usually struck her, like rubies, or the color of a rose.

And that had been really cruel of him, far too harsh. It's not as though she had done anything wrong anyway! More tears made their way down her cheeks, and she rubbed them out of her eyes as much as she could, but they just kept coming back.

'Stupid Soul. I don't even care. He can just play piano by himself from now on!' But she knew that her words weren't true the second they came out of her mouth. She wanted to hear that passion condensed into music one more time, no matter what.

Changing out of her pajamas, she quickly found herself dressed in light blue denim shorts and a mostly white tank top, with red lining the bottom and the top and the red block letters of the brand sitting in the middle, the print reading simply, 'X O'. Throwing on a pair of black boots she had gotten for her birthday last year, she let her hair hang down at her shoulders instead of putting it up once again, and thanks to the lack of a straightener, it was wavy, and curled elegantly in some places.

Grabbing her black bag, she tore out the door, grabbing for a jacket on the back of her door as usual and storming out of the apartment. She stomped down the stairs, not even remembering that Siege was probably still sitting in Soul's apartment, totally confused.

She held her hand up above her head, waving and waiting for a taxi to stop. Immeditely one slowed and she glared at the driver, just because she needed to vent on someone. But she refrined from any random, undeserved insults that she knew would make her feel guilty later on and instead settled for dirty looks and death glares.

'W-where to, miss?' The driver, a young man in his mid twenties with shaggy brown hair and blue eyes asked.

'The library, stupid!' She growled, and he nodded quickly before stepping on the gas button. It was about twenty minutes later before they came to a complete stop in front of a tall, relatvely clean white building in the middle of the town. the sign at the top read, 'Death City Central Library'.

'Stop the car, idiot driver.' She barked at the young guy, who turned around with a half nervous, half determined expression on his face.

'Hey, I'm older than you, you know.' He told her unsurely, trying to look cool. She glared at him sarcastically.

'Don't be such a drama queen, s-t-u-p-i-d. I'll break your legs.' She growled with a sadistic smile, and he shrank back.

'Freaky kid,' He muttered under his breath, and she leaned forward.

'Whaaaaaaaat? Couldn't catch that, you stupid tool.' His eyes widened and she threw ten dollars at him before steeping out of the car and waving sweetly. His jaw dropped and he drove away, speeding, and was immediately pulled over by a cop. Poor guy.

Maka huffed. Now that she had gotten that out of her system, her day could continue.

Running up the steps, she stopped in front of Maddy, the usual librabrian she saw at the place. She had a premium card, so she was allowed to take out up two ten books at a time, but she wasn't there for that today. Stopping in front of the pretty blond woman in her early thirties, she smiled.

'Hello, Maddy. How are you?' She asked politely, grabbing her attention. Maddy looked up from the book she was reading and immediately grinned when she saw her.

'Oh, hello Maka! I'm great. Can I help you with anything?'

'I'm actually looking to get my paws on a few newspaper articles from a few years back.' She told her, and Maddy's eyes widened before she stood up.

'Okay. do you know the particular year? Or better yet, the month, or the week, or even the day?' She asked her and Maka shook her head.

'Sorry, I don't know the year or anything, but I know the incident.' Maddy smiled.

'Oh okay. Well, I read the paper nearly every day, and working here has let me develop a photographic memory, so just tell me what you're looking to find and I'll bring it up for you.' Maka nodded.

'That's great. I'm looking to find any articles related to the Evans family murder.' Maddy gasped. She opened her mouth as if to ask why, but apparently decided against it and instead just turned around to search the comupter. She typed in a date, and four articles came up.

'There you go,' Maddy nodded. 'That's all of them. Call me when you're finished and I'll shut it down. You can print anything you'd like, just press this button here, the printer's in the corner over there.'

She pointed to a gray machine that looked like it was years old and probably didn't print color, but that didn't matter anyways. The titles that came up were as following;

_**Entire Evans family killed in one night.**_

_Police had little evidence to go on as the one survivor critically injured and currently being held in the hospital._

_**Police still have no leads on the Evans family murder.**_

_What the DCPD are doing to find out who could have performed such a horrendous act, and how you can help._

_**New evidence has given police a new edge.**_

_Possible suspect for the Evans family slaughter has been taken into custody for questioning._

_**Evans family murder case goes cold.**_

_With the only possible suspect discharged from custody as innocent, police are back to where they started with no leads and nothing to go on._

Maka brought up the first article and began reading.

**A/N: **:O Finally, we learn a little something about Soul's past! I knwo he was being a real jerk in this one and the previous one, but we'll find out why in apporximately...19 chapters :D Well, sorry about that, but when we finally see the end of why he ended up the way he is, and uncover the truth about his past, it's made up of a series of flashbacks that was so long I had to split it into three chapters. But we get a bit of a hint as to what happened ot his family right now, so just hold on 'till then and enjoy the ride, 'coz its about to get a lot bumpier!

Oh, and I have just finished my planning for the plot! Everything ties together quite nicely if I must say, and you might be surpised by who will end up being the grand villain to this stoory, since every good sotry should ahve one, if they are going to be long. Anyway, watch out for the next few OC's I introduce, because I'm pretty sure you'll hate them as much as I do, such as Lova (well, I don't hate her, but she sort of a biotch ;o) who you might see in a bit but just not realize it, Sakura, Mia, and even Seth (who I particularily hate). And by the way, you may be interested to hear this, but little miss Maddy has stolen my name. That's right, Ma-chan is short for Maddy! It's funner that I prefer formalities on my own name, yet I decided against them in this story xD Still, if you'd prefer it, you can call me Maddy if you want. I'm still the same on the inside, no matter what my name is! Except if my name was Poohead. then I would probably hate myself. So everyone, don't call me Poohead, please.

_Peace Out,_

+Ma-chan o.o


	11. December 19th, Pt 2

**A/N: **I just wrote all this and it got erased 'coz I pressed the tab button! D: So now I'm too depressed and annoyed at it to rewrite verything. I'll say everything next time. Sorry about the horrible cliffie, btw ;)

**Review News!: **Well, a few days ago, it was **Leena-Kun's** birthday! :D So, before anything else, congrats man, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I'd also like to thank you for writing my **100th** review! That's right, 100! Gah, I'm so proud! Man I love you guys! Please keep reviewing!

**Disclaimer:** I wrote one a second ago! Why did it have to go and erase it? Gawd, I don't own it, okay? I DO NOT OWN SOUL EATER.

---

_December 20th, 2006._

_**Entire Evans family killed in one night.**_

_Police had little evidence to go on as the one survivor critically injured and currently being held in the hospital._

_On the cold night of December 19th, no one could have predicted the horrible events about to take place at the famed Evans household on 1797 Vendetta Drive. In one night, the entire family and staff were slaughtered, leaving the only survivor, the twelve year old heir to the Evans fortune Soul Eater Evans, critically injured and hospitalized, with his entire family passed._

_Police currently have little leads on who could have possibly pulled off the heinous crime, and Soul Eater Evans is not in fit condition to be taken into questioning, and is also protected by the law as he is a minor. He will be taken into the Death City Orphanage as soon as he is recovered and properly taken care of. It has been reported that he suffered multiple broken bones and bullet wounds to the shoulder, leg, and chest, although he is now resting in the critical care unit of the hospital, and said there is good chance that he will make a full recovery._

_In the mean time, the Death City Police Department are currently trying to collect together any evidence, but due to a freak electrical emergency, the power had gone out and it had eventually led to a fire, which erased most traces of evidence that could have been used against the killer..._

Maka gulped. after reading through most of the other articles, she hardly noticed that a few hours had passed since she had first left, and checking the time, she realized it was already 5:00 PM. She looked out the window; it was a complete downpour.

Alerting Maddy that she was finished, the young woman graciously offered Maka her umbrella, and Maka took it, but due to the power outage caused by the storm, the streetlights and traffic lights were down, and that meant the streets were unavailable for the public use momentarily.

It would be about a forty minute walk home, but, looking down, she realized that she had accidentally grabbed Soul's coat instead of her own, and after a moments hesitation, slipped it on and buttoned it to the top, pulling a black scarf she had shoved down into her bag earlier out and wrapping it around her neck. Lastly, she opened the umbrella and began walking down the rainy street, feeling gloomy. All she had found out was unimportant details about most of which she already knew...

The person taken into custody for questioning had been, of all the people, _Soul._ This had come as a shock to her, but she already knew that they had let him go.

She finally made it home, pushing the door open and stopping to knock on Sieges door. It was the usual, three knocks and then a minute later, one more knock and the door swung open as Siege stared at her in surprise.

'Hey, Maka. Whats up?'

'Hi, Siege. I'm so sorry for not coming back, but me and Soul sort of got into a fight...' He waved it off.

'Don't worry about it. Anyways, what can I help you with?'

'I was wondering if you had seen Soul come home yet.' Even though she was angry at him, it was cold outside, and most of the stores were closed, and the ones that wouldn't be were off for the Sunday anyway. If Soul wasn't home yet, then that meant he had to be off somewhere, wandering aimlessly. Siege shook his head.

'Nope. He has to walk right by my place, so I would know if he came home, but besides that, the lights in his apartment of off anyway.'

'Oh. Okay, thanks, Siege.' She murmured, and he nodded. 'If you wanna hang out later, you know where to find me.' He told her and she mumbling a quick 'right' before he shut the door, and she spun around, running down the stairs once again. She had to go looking for him. She was furious at him, and still really upset about what he had said early, but she knew that she had to go looking for him. Opening the door, she threw herself into the haze.

It was a horrible storm, and it definitely didn't surprise her that the power had been knocked out. Already she had been forced to take a shortcut through the park, which was littered with tress and bushes, and had shoved past these only to be rewarded with torn clothes. The coat was quickly soaked and she took it off, stuffing it in her bag, but no she had nothing covering her arms, and she began to shiver.

Turning a corner, she noticed the figure of someone standing in the middle of the road. She couldn't make out who it was, but whoever they were, they had probably caught a cold by now. It was a complete downpour, and multiple accidents had already been reported, or so she had heard on the radio that had been playing in the library. There hadn't been a single person or car on the entire street since she had left.

Walking closed, she made out that whoever they were, they were dressed in only a black T-shirt and dark jeans...

'Soul!' She called out through the hard rain. The rain whipped around, and she realized that both of them had been caught in a full out storm. If he managed to hear her through the haze, he didn't respond, and she tried again only to get the same result.

Suddenly, a particularly strong gust of wind grabbed her umbrella and tore it out of her hands, flying down the street. It had managed to catch her scarf as well, and she grabbed for both but they flew right past her and down the street, and then out of sight.

Running towards the soaked teenager standing in the street, she finally got close enough for him to ear her.

'Soul...' His head snapped in her direction, and his eyes widened as he took in her ragged appearance. Her clothes with ripped and in tatters but luckily not showing too much skin to be revealing, and she was soaked. Shallow scrapes had managed to draw the slightest bit of blood on her arms and legs, which were also both quite bare; she hadn't been expecting the storm, in fact it had been sunnier than usually that day.

The coat was heavy and weighing her down in her bag, and her hair was ragged and soaked, the thick blond strands wrapping around her neck and clinging to her back. She was shivering violently, and her eyes were red. Reaching out for him in one hand, her eyes began to close, and she suddenly felt really light. All she heard was Soul yelling her name before she dropped into a dark, dreamless sleep.

---

**A/N:** Still too annoyed at the dumb tab button to write it.

_Peace Out,_

+Ma-Chan... Gloooooom...


	12. Emergency

**  
A/N: **I'm sorry for not updating a little sooner, but I just went through a lot today. I'm furious at my dad and I've decided to not speak to him until he apologizes to me- I even started to go to bad right now -it's 7:30 PM by the way- until I thought I should first check my facebook, and update. And I'm still too mad to go to sleep soundly- he's just been really mean lately. Actually, he was trying to take some of my breakfast this morning and I was fighting him off when I accidentally knocked over a glass fo water. He got really angry and took the rest of the water, and then he threw it in my face. It's pretty upsetting, if it's never happened to you- especially if you've done nothing wrong and th eone to do it is your papa. But I'm not here to vent... Well, actually, I am- this is what I usually do in AN anyway, right? I'm also pretty tired, but I won't let you guy down. Because that's the type of girl I am. Chapter 12! Enjoy.

**Disclaimer: **You guys know already, and I don't have the patience or time right now to make some elaborate way of saying it- I don't own Soul Eater.

---

'MAKA!'

Soul screamed through the rain as she stumbled and began falling forward. He dove over to where she was, catching her just before she hit the ground and shook her a few times. Her eyes didn't open, and her breathing was thick and coming in light gasps and wheezes.

'Maka...' He murmured softly, 'Were you looking for me?'

He didn't have anything he could give her like a coat or a jacket, so he lifted her up with one arm behind her head and the other holding her by the back of her knees. It was a horrible walk back home, and Soul had also been soaked and had begun shaking. Both had high fevers when they finally reached the lobby, and he rushed to carry her upstairs, knocking on Sieges door repeatedly until the red-haired teen finally wrenched it open.

'Wha-' He broke off when he saw the desperate expression on Soul's face and the condition he was in, pale and soaked to the bone. Then he saw the girl in his arms, in the same state except with small scrapes covering her arms and legs, and then of course the fact that she was unconscious.

'What happened-' He was again cut off by Soul's ragged, furious command.

'Call a doctor.' Rushing into the apartment, he quickly laid Maka down on a coach, his vision beginning to swim. He felt light-headed, and had begun to stumble, but he made it out the door. He knew that Maka needed to get out of her soaked clothes, but there was no way he'd do something like that to an unconscious girl. Soul had often seen a young girl about his age coming home to an apartment right beside Siege's, and she was lots of the time accompanied by other people, presumably friends.

He had also once spotted her chatting with Siege and knew that they were friends, so he rushed over to the next apartment and knocked on the door. Right away it was opened gently and a thin, but unusually pretty girl opened the door, her long black hair tied back behind her. the blue eyes took in Souls appearance and her head snapped up to look him in the eye.

Something like fear seemed to run through them, and she blinked, but she didn't look away. He already liked her.

'Do you need to use my phone?' She asked him, and he shook his head.

'No,' He quickly explained, 'I'm a friend of Siege's, and one of our other friends- Maka Albarn- is sick and she... needs a change of clothes, b-but...' The girl held up a hand to stop him and for a second he thought she would refuse, but then she smiled.

'You are such a gentleman. Of course I'll help you. Let me grab something for her to change into, I'll be right back.'

A few seconds later the two walked into Siege's apartment, where he was currently kneeling beside the couch looking worriedly into Maka's eyes. She coughed violently, and Siege looked up at Soul, panic-stricken. He looked slightly relieved when he spotted the girl beside him.

'Tsubaki,' He breathed. 'You came.'

'Of course I did. Now, take her into the bedroom, and I'll get everything ready. Soul, please go and rest. That door over there leads into the extra bedroom, and if you try to stay awake any longer you are going to collapse, and possibly hurt yourself.' The desperate look appeared on his face again.

'But Maka is-'

'No. We'll take care of Maka. You're nearly as sick as she is. The Doctor will be here in a few minutes. I'm going to make you both some of Tsubaki's special herbal blend, it should help you both. She taught me how to make it last time I was at her house.' Siege explained, pushing Soul towards the bedroom. He glanced back at Maka, but allowed himself to be pushed into the bedroom, and collapsed on the bed. Siege threw a pair of black sweat pants and a gray T-shirt at him and instructed him to change before getting some rest. There would be time for showers later.

When Siege came back out, there was a short knock at the door, and a short, thin man was waiting at the door. His kind face was riddled with wrinkles, and he was carrying a large black bag beside him.

'Hello, I presume you are Mr. Everall, the one who phoned me about your friend, a Miss Albarn?' He asked, and Siege nodded and gestured for him to come in.

When they walked in, Tsubaki walked out of the bedroom, pouring tea for three, and then taking the separate pot and grabbing the ingredients for her herbal mix when she saw that Siege was now busy with the Doctor.

'Siege, please explain the situation to the Doctor while I fix the tea.' Siege nodded, and gestured for the Doctor to follow him into the bedroom.

'We actually have two patients today, caught out there in the storm. Thank you so much for coming today, it must have been difficult.' The Doctor chuckled.

'If I had had to travel through the storm, I wouldn't have come, but I live down on the bottom floor. My name is Dr. Victor Greven.' He stopped and examined the young girl, whose blonde hair had been dried with a towel and who was now resting in a short white kimono, tied tightly around her waist. He placed a hand over her forehead and jotted something down on a piece of paper before measuring her heart rate. She had built up a cold sweat and her breathing was harsh, but he stood up and his face crumpled into a smile.

'She has a bad case of pneumonia, but with proper treatment she should make a full recovery.' He told him, and Siege let out a breath of relief.

'Now, the other person?' He asked, and the green-eyed boy nodded and walked out of the room, closely followed by the Doctor. When they opened the door, Soul was pacing around the room, no signs of illness left on his body.

'Soul...?' He called, and the teen looked up, glancing at the Doctor who just as predictably flinched and looked away. But right now that didn't bother him much- was Maka going to be okay?

'Why are you...?' Soul sighed and glared at Siege.

'Well, if you had listened to me instead of shoving me in here you would have learned that all I have to do is change into my scythe form and I heal twice as fast, idiot. How's Maka? Can I go see her now?' He asked impatiently, and Siege nodded, eyes wide. Soul breezed out of the room, not even pausing to look at the Doctor.

'That boy... has menacing eyes.' He said, and Siege looked down at the short old man curiously before replying shortly and with not a trace of sarcasm in his voice,

'Not really.' before following him out of the room. Soul had passed by Tsubaki who had handed him the tray of tea and instructed him to leave one cup with Maka, but not to wake her up. They could always heat it up later. The Doctor handed them medication enough for Maka and just in case, Soul before heading back downstairs, and then it was just those four left.

Looking down at the blonde girl, she looked so fragile. Her breathing was abnormal, she was covered in sweat, and both arms and legs were bandaged neatly with the tight white strands. she had a fever of 106, dangerously high, but according to the Doctor- who, even if Soul didn't like him, still had a degree in medical practice and could be trusted to be correct on these diagnosis.

'Maka...?' He murmured, poking her in the shoulder. She didn't even make a sound, and Tsubaki whacked him on the head.

'Don't poke her, idiot!' She chastised him, but her expression softened as Soul looked worriedly at Maka's condition and sighed, slouching. He would hardly say anything to Siege or her, but he couldn't keep away from this girl. Perhaps they were going out? Well, either way, it was obvious he wanted to be alone, so she left the room and closed the door, turning on the TV and calling Siege to the couch.

Soul stared down at the unconscious girl, throwing his face in his hands and looking back down at her again between his fingers, shaking his head.

'Maka... I'm sorry for saying that stuff earlier...' He began. He thought he would get it off his chest now, since Soul knew that he wouldn't be able to do it later on, he would be too embarrassed.

'What I said about you being stupid... That was a complete lie. I made it up to try and get you angry at me. It just seems like bad things happen to anyone I get too close with, and... well, just look at you now. I never thought that by getting you mad at me, I'd be putting you in even more danger than if you were talking to me. I'm...' He paused, sighing again, and closing his eyes.

'...Sorry...'

---

**A/N: **Can't right now- no time. See ya guys in the next chappie.

_Peace-out,_

+Ma-chan


	13. Now We Wait

**A/N: **Ah! Another late update! I think I said wednesday, but remember how last chapter the chapter was lost because I pressed tab? Yes, well this time I went and made some tea, and when I came back to my computer it had shut down, and I lost everything not saved. I was like, so close to finishing this chapters editing for it too! SO STUPID! So, rather than getting annoyed and writing nothing, I gave myself some time to cool down and will release this chapter with like a bazillion extras.

**Extra number one:** I'm going to Mexico in December, and since it's finally been confirmed, I am VERY excited! So in honour of that I'm posting two random riddles that have something to do with the plane ride, a tribute to the fact that I love pane rides and that the one to Mexico is six hours. We pause in LA, too, so that will be fun. The answers will be posted in the next chapter if you can't figure them out, but if you figure out the answers please drop a review mentioning it!

Riddle number one: _A plane heading for Los Barilles, Mexico, (That's where I'm going btw ;) crashed when they hit the halway point. So where were the survivors buried?_

Riddle number two: _A plane flying back from Los Barilles, Mexico, crashed, and every single person died. Yet two people survived- How is this possible?_

o.o A little morbid, now that I look at them. I hope neither of those happen to me! Unless I'm one of the two survivors. But then again, everyone else would die, so never mind xD More extras at the bottom. Chapter 13! Enjoy.

---

'...Sorry...

'And then you have to come out into that storm and actually _look _for me! What were you thinking? You should know that demon scythes do a little better when it comes to healing human sickness anyway if you're such a bookworm. Or maybe you knew it, and came anyway, which means that you really _are_ stupid.' Shaking his head, he looked at her again, and then looked away.

'Wake up soon, Maka.'

It didn't matter what she thought of him, she was the first to make him smile that like that since the horrible incident over two years ago. Of course he felt he had to 'grow up', so he cut all ties with the other people he knew and registered in Shibusen to become a student after more than two years in that hell where he found out that he had been wrong to trust anyone. It was no surprise when she pointed out how anti-social he seemed. He _had_ lived in an orphanage for a few months. Well... that had been better than when he was actually _adopted._

And when he had dared to play the piano once at the orphanage, everyone had stopped, and immediately walked over to the piano room. He hardly noticed them slowly gather, but obviously they didn't realize his eyes were closed. He didn't, either, because he was sleepwalking.

The sound was twisted and sadistic, but it was so elegantly played you would have hardly guessed he could have been sleeping to produce such a tune. The twelve year old definitely never gave any thought to playing in front of an audience before; he was withdrawn, and no one talked to him anyways because of his scary appearance and bad background. Everyone assumed he was dangerous.

He was just lonely.

When the managers of the orphanage heard the awful song, they immediately burst in, and were momentarily entranced by the swirl of music, but quickly gained composure, harshly shoving him off of the piano stool and slamming the cover over the keys, glaring down at him as he cringed, not realizing where he was or what he had done wrong. Soul had just woken up.

'Who gave you permission to play anyways, Mr. Evans? Hm? No one did? Get back to your bedroom this instant! Do you have any idea what time it is? Hmph, playing _that kind _of music at this time of night...'

_That kind... _This had startled him and he pulled away, running as fast as he could back to his bedroom. Had all those people heard him play the piano? And they had _hated_ it!

From then on, he just assumed that his music wasn't good enough to be played for others, assumed that it was just _another kind_ of music, not fit to be played in front of an audience. But he couldn't deny it; he loved to play. So he settled for waking up very early and playing then.

And when Maka first showed up, he had been devastated. But then, to his utmost shock... He asked him to continue. So he smashed on, his fingers sliding over the ivory keys, tapping gently at times and pushing hard at others. And... She _loved_ it.

After that, there was never any time that she wasn't on his mind, and he wondered what she was doing or who she was with. Of course he had been sure that once she saw him and his fearful appearance she'd shrink back like everyone else, but she hadn't. She had even gone so far as to compliment his eyes... The words had echoed in his head for hours afterward.

_'You're not a monster.' _

Another memory hit him sharply- it was the the first time he performed in front of his family. Someone had been there, a guest his mother had invited over. What had been her name? Oh, right.

Aimée. Aimée Waltz.

xxx

_'What's this? Your dear son plays piano and you don't tell me? I'm hurt, Emilia.'_

_Aimée laughed, and Soul's mother Emilia joined in. Their guest was wearing a long black gown that covered her features tastefully and to the point of perfection- For as long as he could remember, Aimée had been his mother's best friend- but this was the first time he had met her in person, he only knew of stories his mother would tell him. His father, Gabriel, smiled as well._

_'He's only just started about a year ago, though Tressa tells us he has a natural talent for it. Our son is gifted! Would you like to show us what you can do, Soul?' _

_Gabriel asked, and his face lit up in a sharp-toothed grin. He nodded vigorously and ran over to where the large, polished black piano sat, and quickly removed the cover before starting a highly advanced piece from a symphony number. Although mistakes littered the song, it still sounded amazing for a boy of such an age. On December 14th, Soul would celebrate his seventh birthday._

_At the sound of the piano his elder sister Tressa walked in, smiling warmly. She really was quite pretty, with his mother's long, silky red hair and soft brown eyes that reminded him of a doe's. She had gotten them from their father, while his older brother had taken his mother's pale blue ones. None of them knew where Soul could have gotten his ruby ones from._

_'Ah, Soul, you're playing again!' _

_Tressa called, walking up and placing her hands over his. She had helped him to learn the song as his teacher was unconvinced that he could learn something so complex at such an early stage, but Tressa's hands guided him to each note as he grinned like a wolf. He moved onto a new song that Tressa had also taught him, but the doorbell rang thick and clear as her fianceé Seth announced his arrival. She waved at them before throwing on a dark red scarf and closing the door behind her, and then Soul was the center of attention again, his fingers resuming where he had left off._

_When he finished, Aimée walked over to him, and his apprehensiveness grew when he saw that she wore a dark, unimpressed expression. But as she moved closer and knelt down so they were face to face, her mouth broke out in a smile. She herself was stunning- with the beautiful blonde hair of an angel, pinned up elegantly on the back of her head, and perfectly green eyes with thick, dark lashes that only seemed to make them glow brighter._

_'That was amazing, Soul,' she whispered to him, and the smile twisted so she seemed to be smirking. 'You're father was right about you-_

_She put her hands on his, and murmured something before looking back up at him, the green eyes blazing._

_'-You do have a gift.'_

_And then there was a tightness around his hands that he couldn't begin to describe when he suddenly felt them heat up as if they were engulfed in flames. He would have cried out, but it all happened in such a short moment that he wasn't sure if he had imagined it or not. When he looked up again, Aimée was already walking away, and she swiftly thanked and said goodbye to his parents before the door breezed open and closed once again._

_And then she was gone._

xxx

After a while, Soul fell asleep kneeling beside the bed, his tea long forgotten and sitting untouched on the bedside table. Tsubaki came in after a bit to check on Maka and make sure she managed to down a few pills before she left again. The next day, Soul awoke, and found that Maka was sleeping much easier on the Monday, although he was worried that she had to miss school. He did too, but he didn't really care about it. It's not as if he had never skipped _before._

Sighing, he waited a few seconds, and Maka stirred, giving a slight groan.

'Soul...?' She whispered, faint surprise lighting up her feautures. Finally, the princess was awake.

---

**Mini-Theatre: **'Soul...?' He looked up, watching Maka in surprise. She was finally conscious! But something was wrong. She was looking for something frantically- he couldn't guess what she might need right now. Some water? Painkillers? A blush spread over his cheeks when he thought of the last guess- _me?_

'Maka! Are you okay?' He asked tenderly, as she continued her impossible search.

'So...'

'What is it?' He asked, leaning forward. Maybe she was delirious? Soul's hand stretched out to check her tempaerature, and Maka watched it carefully, licking her lips. It looked like she was seeing something entirely different from his hand.

'Maka-?'

'So... So _HUNGRY!_' Her head leaned upwards as she quite enthusiastically latched onto his hand, attepmting to take a bite. For a second both people were staring at the other in astonishment- Maka because she realized (with a displeased grunt) that Soul was indeed not edible and Soul because Maka had just tried to eat him without any hesitation. Soul seemed to regain his composure before the blonde girl before him-

'_...MAKA! OWWWW_!'

**A/N: **xD Couldn't resist. The idea was eating at me (excuse the pun... Actually, don't. Why should it have to be excused anyway? It's not as though it did anything but sit there, ebing a pun. So why should anyone have to excuse them? It's insulting to puns everywhere. If we, the people, don't smarten up, the puns will cause an uproar and society could crumble-)

-AHEM- This chapter gave a bit more about his past- Now, pay attention to this chapter, it will be important later! In like, chapter thirty-something! Remember her name also. Aimée Waltz. Ah, and Maka wasn't sick for too long, I didn't want her out of the story or anything, but I wanted Soul to show his weakness- mainly, her. So there ya go- some fluff, maybe? Ugh. I get sick of fluff pretty quickly- like having a piece of cotton in your mouth. Ever been to the dentist and have to have that cotton in your mouth? It makes me gag. And that's how I feel about overused ideas for fluff.

Also, I'll be adding in character profiles- just for better understanding of the OC's. Each one will be explored- down to the least important OC. Like Sam- no offense, man. Hey, did I just talk to my own OC? Am I going crazy? Is my cat going crazy too? Or did my tea just go crazy? Why is everything purple? SQUIRRELS SCARE ME.

**Character Profile #1: **Siege

**Name:** Siege Everall

**Gender:** Boy

**Age: **15 years old

**Blood type:** B

**Appearance:** Dark, cherry-red hair and green eyes.  
Mostly just throws on whatever clothes he's got lying around,  
but never anything really special. He's not too rich, but he's pretty tidy.****

Personality: Pretty easy-going, and never really holds grudges.  
But he's also one of those people who can easily bring up a sensitive  
topic without realizing it, and is also not very observant of other people's  
real emotions. Forgive and forget is basically his life story. Siege is also  
not too bright when it comes to school work, and he's a procrastinator  
-Like me -.-

**Brief History: **Siege came from a well-off family, but he was only able to  
attend Shibusen due to scholarship that a distant, recently-passed relative  
mentioned in their will. He's always had a lot of friends, but although he knows  
nearly everyone, he couldn't really call any of them his best friend- He's not close  
with anyone, really.

**Review Credits! **...Will be in the next chapter, since I already have too much in this chapter. But thank you all in advance! You know who you are- and by next chapter, so will everyone else. Can't say when the next update will be- OH! Also, what does everyone think of the new Twilight movie recently being released? I mean I know it just came out tonight, but I wanna see it tomorrow. I'm pretty excited- it's one of my favorite books. And according to Maka... It's one of hers, too! -reference to chapter 7- xD

_Peace out,_

+ xoxo, Ma-chan!


	14. Hakuna Mutada

**A/N:** I'm soooooo sorry I haven't updated in like almost two weeks! I have no excuse except for a) I've been busier than usuual and b) I forgot, and for that, I apologize. It's possible I might turn into once/twice a week updates, I hope that isn't too much of a problem. The status on my dad and I is still undetermined, since I'm on a daughter's rights strike and therefore am not talking to him. My sister hasn't been going to his house either (well, she never does anyway), so he's probably very lonely and feeling bad for ignoring me and taking me for granted the past few months when he really had no reason too. Oh, and throwing water in my face. But there I go, ranting again. Chapter 14! Enjoy.

---

'...Maka!' He breathed, studying her carefully, the red eyes once again letting the control slip and leaving all his emotions flow out naturally. Worry, fear, anger... Was that affection?

She coughed, and he stood up immediately, prepared to go and fetch the Doctor from downstairs, but Maka grabbed his arm and tugged him back quietly. He allowed himself to be pulled, but it was weak, and he had to do most of the moving. She blinked, gazing up at him, her eyes unfocused.

'...Don't go yet.' She told him, and he collapsed into the chair, staring down at her, his eyes wide and confused. Both hands were hanging limply by his sides, twitching, as if they wished that they could be doing something to help.

'But the Doctor could-' She reached up with a pale hand and placed one finger on his mouth, stopping him mid sentence. His eyes widened even more, if that was possible, and his breath stopped for a second before he breathed out slowly, his warm breath tickling her finger. Her hand slipped from his face, dropping, and he caught it with one of his own hands, which were equally pale. Grasping it, he squeezed it tightly, not letting go.

'Soooouuuulll....' She moaned, and he leaned in, his eyes inspected her again as if searching profusely for a problem he could solve. She looked up at him pleadingly, her hands twitching.

'W-what is it?' He asked, pulling on her hand, and her mouth broke out into a grin. He breathed out in relief, but it was quickly countered by an open-mouthed frown of disapproval.

'I want you to play a song.' He sighed, his eyes closing as he shook his head slowly.

'Maka... I can't bring the piano here. You'll have to wait until you're better.' He told her, and this time, she shook her head.

'No, no, that's not what I'm asking. Why don't we go to your place then?' He blinked, and then frowned again, rcovering from his surprise.

'No. You're going to stay in this bed until you're approved of by the Doctor.' He told her, and she blinked.

'The Doctor?' She scowled. 'I hate him. But I don't care either, I want to hear a song, and I won't leave it alone until I do.' She told him, a pout arising on her face. He sighed, looked down at her, bemused. She wasn't lying. He remembered the first time she had showed up at his apartment, knocking non-stop. She was so stubborn it gave him a headache.

'Soul... Don't you have to go to school?' He looked at her sideways.

'What? Not a chance. Siege has already gone to school, although we had to literally shove him out the door. He didn't want to leave almost as badly as I don't. Tsubaki also attends the school- she helped us take care of you when I... brought you home.' His eyes dropped to the ground, and she glanced down at him in wonder.

'What's wrong?' She asked, genuinely confused, and his head snapped up to look at her as if she'd just asked him if she was allowed to jump out the window.

'W-what's wrong? I... Maka, you could've _died!_' His voice broke on the word, and his head sunk even lower until it was back in his hands, and all she could see was one scarlet eye, wide and staring down at the ground in disbelief from between his fingers. He whispered something that Maka couldn't catch.

'They always do.'

'Soul! I wouldn't go as far as that. I'm just a little sick, that's all! Now, we're going to go to your house now, and you will play a beautiful song, and then we will go to school, and see Siege and then after school we'll all go out for tea. Sound good?' She finished, and he slowly pulled his head out of his hands, staring at her in shock.

'Maka! How can you just pretend that none of this happened?! It's all my fault! You're all messed up now! You had to miss school! Because I was being stupid-' He was cut off as she slid out of the bed, and walked over ot where he was sitting. He stopped talking the moment she got up, and when she got over to him, her hand raised above her head and she brought it down on the top of his head. Maka Chop had made its appearance.

He flinched and glanced up at her. She was grinning. She always was, wasn't she? It made him want to smile too, even though he was angry she wasn't in bed like she should be.

'Have you ever seen the movie Lion King?' She asked suddenly, and he choked on a breath.

'W-what?' He answered, surprise open in his eyes at the unexpected question. She looked at him in disdain, and he recovered with a breath.

'N...no.' He replied, and she laughed.

'Well... That's a shame. The morale of the movie is...' She giggled. 'Hakuna... Mutada!' Maka burst out laughing, and suspicion crossed Soul's features.

'Are you sure you're okay to be walking around, Maka...? Let me check to see if you still have a fever-' She finally stopped, her eyes brimming with tears. She swiped them away with the back of her hand, still giggling.

'It means 'no worries.' Sometimes things happen and there's nothing you can do about them. That's in the past. Can we go see the piano now?' She ended, excitement in her green eyes. He only stared at her, blinking.

'..._what?'_

_---_

**A/N:**Well, short chapter, a short break from the plot, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway! I hardly spell checked this one, so for any mistakes, I appologize. As for the review tributes, I'm putting it off once again. Sorry! I just can't do it at the moment! I hope your aren't too mad, it doesn't mean I don't appreciate your reviews because I DO I SWAER I LOVE THEM ALL! But I'll get around to it... Eventually.

_Peace out!_

+Ma-chan!


	15. Remember me? You better!

**A/N: **Late update again! e.e I hope it'll stop too, but I'm running three websites now, so it's getting tougher as I get more members... Anyways, I really hope everyone likes this chapter, because it's sure to spark a little _je ne sais quoi_ in everyone's mind after reading this pile of quivering angst- but to clear it up, I absolutely _loved_ this chapter. Writing it, re-reading it, it was a nice change, and I hope too many people don't hate it! XD I bet now you guys have heard all this and aren't even readin the A/N anymore, hey? This chapter is long, too.

Oh. I had dinner with my dad today. It was awkward, and if my sister wasn't there, I wouldn't have made it through. To spite him, scine he has waaay too much money and liesa about it to my _single mother_ and doesn't pay enough child support, I ordered steak and lobster. Score one for Ma-chan! LOL. Chapter 15! Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bleach. I mean Naruto. I mean D. Gray-Man. I mean Kingdom Hearts. I mean Ouran High School Host Club. I meanFull Metal Alchemist. I mean Kekkaishi. I meanKamichama Karin. I mean Chibi Vampire. I mean Vampire Knight. I mean Law Of Ueki.

...I mean, Soul Eater. (Btw, all those I just named are in my top fav 50 mangas ;). In short, I don't own SOUL EATER. But I _do _eat souls, so you should watch yourself and not get too close!!

---

Naturally, Soul caved to Maka's upbeat attitude, but he refused to play anything unless it was nighttime, so they instead arrived at Maka's book-filled space as she gathered her things after the Doctor had approved her and let her leave the bed, and so she went off, preparing for school. Soul already had his bag together, with all the correct textbooks and such. They still hadn't talked about the first night Maka had heard Soul playing, and had accidently resonated their souls, but that would be brung up in good time.

'I've already called in and alerted Shinigami that we're both going to be late.' Maka let a breath of relief escape her mouth. If there was one thing she was freaky about, it was school. She would _not_ tolerate bad marks. She enjoyed school. _Loved _it, in fact.

As soon as the two were ready, they caught a taxi down in the street. Maka climbed in first, and waited as Soul gathered the things. The seats were comfortable, but were punctured in a few places; they really should take care of that. Then Maka's green eyes widened when she realized that it had been _her_ who had created those marks, back when she had been driving to the library to try and find out what had happened to Soul's family. She stiffened when she realized what this meant.

Same taxi, same driver.

'Where to-' The driver broke off when he spotted a tense Maka. She smiled weakly and waved, and his face contorted in anger when he saw her.

'It's you!' He exclaimed, pointing rudely in Maka's direction. 'D'you have any idea how much trouble I was in when they saw those marks on the seats? And that speeding ticket cost me my next six pay cheques! Oh my god, I cannot believe you would actually have the nerve to pull me over and ask for a ride!' He seethed, glaring at her. She flinched, and he continued, shaking his head.

'Nuh-uh. No way. Get out of my taxi right now.' She made no move, staring at him, and he commanded more loudly, 'Get out!'

She scrambled out the door, falling sideways and landing on her shoulder. Soul was beside her immediately, pulling her off the ground, and glancing at the taxi, then back at her.

'What happened?' He asked, bewildered, and she shook her head.

'S'just someone I happened to know, th-that's all. Let's call a different one.' She prepared to put up her hand, ready to call over another cab, but she failed at hiding the misery on her face. They were already so late for school; she hated it.

Soul saw this, and spun around to glare at the young boy that was driving. He glared back fiercely.

'Let us in,' he commanded in a dark tone, and the driver cringed, but quickly recovered his composure, pressing hard on a button. The black tabs beneath the windows flipped downward to signify that the car was locked.

'As if! Let that bitch back into my car? Not a chance!' He called back, glaring angrily. Soul had already packed some of their things into the back of the car, so the driver couldn't leave until they took them back out, or he could be charged with stealing, and he didn't want to take them out of the car because that would involve getting of it and, frankly, the guy in front of him was _really_ scary. Soul went rigid for a minute, staring the boy down, he winced and looked away form the dark glare, only to find a source of courage and stare right back.

Suddenly Soul's face broke out into a dark grin, and he spoke.

'Oh, you're going to regret that.'

And in a split second, Soul's arm transformed into long, gleaming red steel. The flash caused Maka to stumble back a few steps. When she glanced back, she gasped. From where Soul's long right arm usually sat there was a massive, and extremely dangerous looking, blade.

There was another flash of movement as Soul brought the knife down on the car; the sound of tearing metal filled Maka's ears before she opened her eyes to see an ordinary Soul standing beside the car, inspecting his fingernails non-nonchalantly, a faint smile playing on his lips. All signs of sadisticity were gone from his face, and the driver was staring horrified at the yellow car door that was laying in scarps on the sidewalk. Many people had stopped to witness the scene, and now Maka stared, amazed, at the heap of yellow steel.

'S-Soul... did you...?' She managed to stutter, and he grinned at her, a playful smile laying across his face.

'Uh-huh. Now, would you like to step inside, Maka?' He offered her his hand, winking at her, completely out of character, and she giggled before placing hers in his, once again climbing into the seat of the car as the driver looked on in muted shock.

But just as Soul began to climb in, he heard a high-pitched squeal from behind him. Turning around, he spotted a particularly cute girl with her short black hair hanging to her shoulders. She was staring at Soul in complete awe, and he looked at her, perplexed, as she began speaking.

'So...' she started, staring at him with her pretty brown eyes. Maka glanced at the girl in annoyance; if this kept up, they would be even more late than if they had just taken another cab.

'So... Cool!' she screeched, launching herself across the sidewalk and into the bewildered arms of a shocked Soul. Throwing her arms around his neck, she pressed her glossy pink lips right onto his, and his eyes widened. Maka's mouth dropped open, and the crowd cheered.

Awkwardly, Soul just stood there, completely stunned and taken off-guard, his arms limp at his sides, and Maka gawked after them before shaking her head and immediately jumping out of the car, stomping over to where the two were currently embracing, and shoved the girl off of Soul, who seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in and wiped his mouth, looking seriously shaken, and even about ready to faint.

Maka fumed beside him, glaring at the girl.

'What was that?!' She yelled at the girl, pointing at Soul and finishing the question that had begun to form on Soul's lips seconds before. The girl was definitely pretty all right, and had to be at least a few inches taller than her. Maka was the shortest of the three. The girl glanced at her disdainfully, looking annoyed that she had broken them apart.

'Whoa, overprotective little sister much?' She stated rhetorically, staring down at Maka, who turned red.

'L... _Little sister?'_ She screamed, her hands balling into fists. She glanced at Soul, who still seemed to be in shock, and realized she wasn't going to get any help from him. Turning back to the pretty teen, an all-out diss-fight began.

'Who are you calling little, you ugly skank! I try to catch a ride with Soul to school only to have to deal with a pain like you?! Get out of here!' She screeched, and the girl threw a hand over her mouth, shock, confusion, anger, then realization crossing her face all at the same time.

'O-oh- wait a minute, he's not your boyfriend, is he?' She asked, looking uncomfortable at all the stares being distributed from the massive crowd. The taxi driver was still freaking out in the car.

This time, both of them blushed furiously, glancing at each other before quickly looking away, unable to meet each other's eyes. Soul threw his hands in front of him in a show of surrendering, quickly sputtering out,

'Oh no, Maka's not my _girlfriend-_' The black-haired teen perked up, a smile spreading across her fine features.

'Well, that's great then!' She said, throwing herself at him once again, only to knock him down.

'Mmmfgh!' He tried to call out to Maka from underneath the girl, unable to speak due to the fact that her warm lips were once again pressed up against his. But Maka only turned redder before spinning around and running from the scene, down the street and away from the crowd.

Soul finally managed to push the girl off of him before standing up and calling out to her. 'Maka!' But she turned the corner and was out of site within moments.

He was in trouble now.

---

**A/N:** First off, L-O-L. What story doesn't need a jealous random person scene, huh? Buuut this is NOT the last you'll see of this girl! She comes back, yes she does. But everyone, this story will only get darker after the next few chapters light mood, and you'll be happy to meet a new character that you'll easily recognize from the show, because they would be very mad if you had forgotten about them. So, Maka is mad at Soul, and Soul is confused and disorientated, and now both are embarassed and Maka is -dareIsay- jealous?! There's a short summary of what just happened, for some people who ksipped the chapter part and went straight to my A/N's since they're so interesting.

I might make a chirstmas special as a one-shot, and I'll announce it here if I do- or I might make it another chapter of this story, I'm not sure yet. Here's a mini-theatre I just thought of- and a profile will be in the next chapter. Riddle answers! I forgot about them! My mom just came in and it's late- so next chapter as well! Sorry about the missing review listings, and I'll make all replies tomorrow!

9 days of school left.

13 days until Mexico.

The count is on.

**Mini-Theatre: '**Wait up Maka!' Soul called out, running after the blonde girl. She stopped suddenly- they were walking along the beach-side and there were lots of stores, but she hadn't seemed interested until she saw one purple elephant sitting in the window. Her eyes gleamed dangerously.

'I... I want it. So bad.' She told Soul without looking away from it, running forward and pressing her face up against the glass for a better look. 'Oh my god, I _need_ that elephant.'

Soul glanced at the sign above the shop; it clearly said 'closed.'

'We can come back another time, Maka. It's closed today.' She looked at him desperately, this urgent, overwhelming addiction coloring her face, and he took a step back, shocked. Maka had an elephant complex? 'It's not like I can just break into the store, Maka!' He defended himself, frowning.

'B-but... You broke up that taxi really badly! I saw you! You could do it!' He sighed, reaching forward and touching the glass.

'You _really _want this that bad?' He asked, exasperated, and she nodded vegourously. _Damn stuffie fedishes..._

His finger turned into a short blade the size of a steak knife, and he traced a circle into the glass, catching it as it fell away and then reached in to take out the elephant carefully, placing it in her hands before throwing twenty bucks where it had been sitting. The tag said $10.00, but they _were _stealing- the least they could do is be generous.

'Thanks, Soul! You're the best!' She squeaked, but her ears perked up when she heard sirens in the distance. They glanced at eachother, and then they were surrounded by cops within an instant.

'_Drop the elephant!' _The man in the front yelled through his megaphone, and Soul and Maka's mouths dropped.

'_That's a priceless antique worth a lot of money! Put it down and nobody gets hurt!_' Soul looked again at the tag in shock- it didn't say $10.00- It said $10,000.00. How had he missed that?

'_MAKA! I completely, totally and 100 percent blame you for this!_' You could hear him from a mile away. All for the elephant.

_Peace out,_

+Ma-chan!


	16. A God Like Me

**A/N:** MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY FREAKING HANUKKAH! WHO'S EXCITED FOR THE HOLIDAYS?? xD So, hello everyone! Sorry that I haven't gotten around the the review replies, but if ya guys had forgotten because of the impression that I'm giving (which would be that I don't care) I DO CARE, HONEST! They're what keep me going through chapters! I haven't gotten around to chapter 35 though because I accidentally overwrited it with chapter 34, so now I have ch. 34 and 16, but no 35... And I'm too lazy to rewrite it xD But besides that, I hope you're all having fun! I've been listening to Paper Moon while writing this :P For people who don't know, who should, since this is a SE fic, it's the second Opening.

I forgot to put these in a couple chappies ago!!

Riddle answer number 1;; The two survivors were _married._ As in 'Every **single** person died', but the married/dating couple were not single, so they lived! Clever, hey?

Riddle Answer number 2;; Why in the world would you bury _**survivors?**_ 'S wrong with you people? Jeez!

So, here's the count for me-

School left;; 4 days

'Till I go to Mexico;; 7 days

'Till Xmas;; 10 days

By the way, for anyone interested, the holiday accompaniment I promised has just been released- It's called **It's Starting To Feel A Bit Like Christmas.** Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own SE, my evil twin does. And she's threatening to burn it of the mayor of the town doesn't meet her demands! Luckily, the powder puff girls just showed up, so they'll fix that right up in no time! Yay! Go, Bubbles! Take 'im down! (I don't own Soul Eater).

---

Running from the scene, Maka wasn't really mad at Soul, she just couldn't stand there and watch that like a dumbstruck idiot. It wasn't really his fault- she had watched as the other girl came onto him. And even if he had come onto her; what did that matter? He was single; he could go out with whoever he chose to.

So why did it make her so mad?

Finally slowing as her breath came in short pants, she realized that while running, she had gotten herself completely lost. Soul would probably catch up in a few seconds, and she could apologize for running off. After all, it didn't even look as though he enjoyed it very much; he just looked really panicked, like he didn't have any idea what to do-which was probably true..

But Maka always found that he had a certain charm about him, that made him look very composed, and she decided it was probably because of his rich upbringing, but he had looked _really_ unsure of what to do when the girl had kissed him; completely awkward and even freaked out. She was even beginning to feel bad for him until she realized that she was feeling sorry for a guy who had just been kissed by a _really_ hot girl. Never mind.

Well, there was no avoiding it now, she had probably missed the school day. Looking down at the pavement, she wondered what was taking Soul so long to catch up. Maybe he had decided to stay with the girl? Or perhaps he just didn't want to have to go after her... It wouldn't surprise her that much. She _had_ been acting pretty high-maintenance, and even if he had looked petrified, it wasn't her place to pry beautiful girls off of him.

Blushing, she turned another corner, hoping she might find someplace she recognized. Normally she would just pull over a cab and give an address, but she didn't have the money; Soul did. He had probably gone home, or to school; but now she was lost, with no money, and she was still feeling a little sick from her recent case of pneumonia.

Walking a little faster, she realized that it was getting hotter out, and she pulled off her coat only to realize she had completely forgotten to change out of the short white kimono the apparent 'Tsubaki' had given her; suddenly she was very grateful she hadn't shown up at school. How embarrassing that would have been?

Spotting a half eaten bagel in a trash can, she pulled it out and sat down on a bench, pulling off bits and throwing them at the growing crowd of pigeons situated at the base of the bench. She looked at her watch; it was already 2 PM; school ended at 3 PM. It would be pointless to try and go now; she would probably be able to grab her stuff in the last 2 minutes, but she wouldn't have a clue as to how to do it. Sighing, she tossed the last piece of bagel at a fat gray pigeon before continuing over to the park, where a large fountain was spraying the clear water up into the air, and she smiled at the sight.

Walking over, she sat by the edge, bored. She wanted to go to school, and see Siege and meet up with Soul, and maybe even meet this Tsubaki-person who had apparently helped her out a lot, but now she was stuck, bored out of her skull and feeling lonely.

_'Guess Soul really did go to school without me... Or maybe he decided to do something with that girl... _She thought, rubbing her temples. Luckily it was a fairly warm day out, nothing compared to the storm from the other day. She sighed. At least the view was nice.

It was just then that a large amount of water began seeping into her clothes as she was brutally splashed. Looking up in shock, there was no one beside her, but rather behind her, _in_ the fountain. Staring up in astonishment, she didn't recognize the young boy with the unusual turquoise hair standing at the very top. Looking down at her clothes, she realized he must have splashed her getting up there.

'W-what are you doing up there? Get down, you could fall and hurt yourself!' Maka called up to the stranger, who turned to face whoever it was that was speaking to him. He spotted the soaked girl near the bottom and laughed.

'Yeah, as if! Nothing can harm the great Black Star! Do you really think a god would injure himself falling into a fountain? That's crazy! Haha, you're crazy, blondie!' He called back, laughing like a child, and Maka glowered.

'Your not a god! A god wouldn't randomly splash a random girl minding her own business in the middle of the park!' She seethed, and he stopped laughing, staring down at her.

'Well, sorr-ee!' She said, stretching the word out as she fumed at the bottom. He laughed again at her expression, but suddenly the water on the fountain finally seemed to affect the teenager and he slipped with a short, 'Whoa!'

Maka screamed unwillingly, throwing a hand over her mouth and closing her eyes, waiting for the horrible sound of bone breaking. No doubt that would be followed by screaming of his own.

But the screaming never came, and Maka looked up in astonishment when she saw who had caught the crazy boy before he hit the concrete.

Right there, in the middle of the fountain and soaking wet, stood Soul Eater Evans, looking semi-annoyed.

'Soul!' She gasped, and he turned to look at her, the dazed boy still in his arms. He looked about their age, but sure didn't act it. Suddenly he shook his head, looking up in surprise.

'Huh?' He said stupidly, looking in all different directions before looking up at Soul, whose eyes, as always when they were in public, betrayed nothing. He did however slouch slightly, giving them the impression that he was, of all the things, _bored _in this situation._  
_

'Hey, Maka. You know this guy?' He called out to the blond girl just as the other guy jumped down from Soul's grasp, landing perfectly on his feet and turning to look at them in disdain. The guy scratched the back of his head, glancing at Soul and not waiting for Maka's answer, which he knew would be 'no'.

'Well, a god would never sink so low as to forget to thank someone who's helped him out somewhat, so thanks for that.' He told Soul, who had begun to look more interested. Staring at the boy, he called out,

'Would you happen to be Black Star?' He asked, and Maka gasped again. He must be from the famed clan of the Stars... But that didn't explain his crazy actions.

He ressembled a monkey a lot more than any god she knew of.

---

**A/N: **Black Star xD Gotta love that guy!! So, dramatic question time!

_**How did Soul know who Black Star was??!**_

_**What will be Maka's reaction to Soul's sudden appearance be??! But more importantly...**_

_**Is there really a monkey god??!**_

Find out, next chapter, _Ice Cream!_ Wait for it!

_Peace out and happy holidays,_

+Ma-chan!


	17. Ice Cream

**A/N: **It's not my fault! The holidays kept me busy and I didn't have time to update! I'm really sorry you guys! Plus, I'm currently updated at 10pm from my beach house in Los Barilles, Mexico. I hope everyone liked the holiday fic, and I loved all your reviews!

I Guess a part of me knew there was a monkey god, but I never knew his name! 0.0 Thanks,** Kitsune-gao**, for pointing out to me that indeed Sun Wu Kong is a distant relative of our hyper-active friend Black Star. Sun Wu Kong = monkey god, by the way. Oh, and to **Applephile**, you wrote my **200th** review! ILOVEYOU! ILOVEYOUALL! -sobs- Tears of joy, my friends! I'm so glad you're all pleased! You make me so happy! I finally got over my stupid idocy of writing that chapter over again, and it's loking good, even if its sort of a scary chapter... But I won't say any more ;) Again, REALLY sorry about not updating. Giving up on this story won't happen, so don't let yourself think about that. At least, not for another 22 chapters in the least until there's even a 1/200th chance that this story will have no ending. But if I die and can't update, well, don't hold it against me. Chapter 17! Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** Soul owns Soul Eater, doesn't he? I mean, it's his name! Plus, he _does_ eat souls! So that would make it his... Right? Or maybe I'm jsy being craaaaazzzzzyyyy... Naaah, that can't be it cause I'm not CRAZY in the LEAST!! -maniacal laughter-. I... -sob-... Do not own Soul Eater. If I did, then Maka and Soul would have kissed, and Siege would actually be a tech, instead of that damn kid with the glasses and the weird antennae on the sides of his face and is all bald! I forget his name, that's how much I don't like him! Darn it all!

---

'Would you happen to be Black Star?' He asked, and Maka gasped again. He must be from the famed clan of the Stars... But that didn't explain his crazy actions. He resembled a monkey a lot more than any god she knew of. But the other guy only grinned.

'I really shouldn't be surprised you've heard of me before. I'm amazing, aren't I? Why, the angels sing tales of me up in the sky-' He was cut off by Soul's tired statement.

'Tsubaki complains about you a lot.' The newly confirmed Black Star's face warmed up as he blushed before glaring at Soul.

'She just doesn't understand how awesome I am, that's all!'

He insisted, and Soul looked up from the pigeon he had been inspecting uninterestedly before laughing. Black Star smiled too, and they both started laughing as they recalled the previous conversation and it's complete pointlessness. Maka tapped her fingers on her knee as she waited for them to finish. She didn't understand what was so funny.

When they finally calmed down, Maka called out to them,

'Are you done?' And Soul and Black Star looked at each other and then back to her in all seriousness before nodding.

'Randomly laughing in the middle of the park's fountain! I sure do pick the cool ones to skip school with, don't I?' Shem muttered sarcastically as Soul glanced at her. Cool? That's what the girl from... earlier had said as well. Soul had obviously not picked up on the apparent sarcasm in Maka's voice when she had spoken, and instead a question came to mind.

_Am I cool?_

He didn't even know what cool was anymore.

'It's kinda hot, right? Let's grab some ice cream, then I wanna head home and change out of these clothes since they're soaked too now, no thanks to _you._' He said, staring down Black Star, who was now drying his hair off with the top of a black jacket he had been carrying. All three of them were wet.

'What?' Black Star asked, annoyed. 'It's not my fault you helped me!'

'He _saved_ you, idiot. There's a difference.' Maka told him, motioning for them to get up as they strode over to the ice cream place. It was just a small cafe, with the long glass-covered frezing countertop shielding the different flavors, and Black Star licked his lips before pulling out a wallet and looking crestfallen when he found all he had was three pennies and for some reason, a peso. Soul laughed at him.

'Don't worry, it's on me.' He told Black Star, who grinned and threw an arm over his shoulders.

'Thanks, buddy!' He yelled out, earning him an annoyed stare from the owner of the shop as Maka walked over to the counter to pick out her flavor.

'... I think... Ummm....' Black Star groaned loudly, and she glared at him as he rolled his head forward and slouched.

'Would you just choose already? You sure are picky for a person being treated.' He told her. The statement was obviously not true, but it made both him and Soul laugh when she turned red and gave them dirty looks from her place in front of the counter, but didn't say anything. Turning back to the woman beside the cash register, she stated politely,

'May I please have a scoop of strawberr-' She was cut off when Soul threw a hand over her mouth, and she looked up at him in shock as he grinned.

'Nah, that's a boring flavor. Lets pick a _cooler_ flavor, shall we?' He looked over the rows of ice cream while she blushed furiously from underneath his hand before looking back at the woman, who was also, for some strange reason, blushing.

'We're going to get triple chocolate rocky road.' He told her with a smile, and she stood there gawking for a second before shaking herself of and delivering her own smile.

'Ah, yes, is that all?' She asked, straightening the red glasses she was wearing over her eyes. She looked about their age too, and her brown hair hung just past her shoulders in two small, elegant braids.

Black Star jumped forward, grinning like a maniac.

'What are you doing, Soul, steeling the lead role from the great me? Give me a break!' He scolded and they both laughed as Maka finally peeled Soul's hand off her face.

'I'll get the chocolate chip cookie dough one!' He told the brunette, and she nodded before preparing the two cones. Maka looked back up at Soul, who was still almost standing over her.

'Hey,' She began, 'why didn't you order two?'

'Hn?'

'You only ordered one ice cream for both of us. Is that really okay?'

Realization crossed his face as he looked at the girl preparing the ice cream.

'Oh, that's because I left my wallet in the house and only had enough change for two if we were to be able to pay for out ride home. Would you rather share with Black Star?' He joked, pointing at the excited aqua-haired teen behind them.

'More, more!' He told the girl, who glanced up in annoyance, effectively giving Soul's cone a large sum more than Black Star's. She turned back to the white-haired teen, smiling happily as she held out the cone, still not noticing Maka.

'Here you go!' She called out gleefully, and he grinned back. 'Thanks.' She giggled madly and he turned back to Black Star, completely unaware of the girls obvious liking of him. It didn't cross his mind that she might find him attractive; aside from the one girl in the town before, everyone, and that included girls, shied away from his creepy red eyes, unusual white hair, and sharp, and quite dangerous pointed teeth. Hadn't he just smiled? Did she not notice the small fangs?

'Okay, let's go home, I'm starting to get a little cold in wet clothes and surrounded by freezers.' Maka told him, and he laughed. He had done a lot of that in the past twenty minutes, hadn't he? But part of him wasn't surprised.

_I've almost begun to get used to it_, he realized, his eyes widening when he added the last part.

_Whenever I'm with Maka._

_---_

**A/N**: Dude, I loved writing this chapter. Aha, remember how Soul always thinks he's so cool in the series? Thought I'd throw that in here- sorry if it looks sloppy. I think I wrote this chapter in early november, or maybe even october, so sorry! And here's a bit of a lighter mooded chapter- don't get used to them. There's some fluff in this fic, but don't get me wrong- this is NO teddy bear! You're in for a scary ride, with EVEN some character death (but only OC, don't worry.) I'll try to update a little more often now, and I appologize on behalf of my half-assed-ness. But I AM in Mexico- I'm not going to spend it all writing fanfiction! xD Hope you liked the chappie! Please review! I'll reply to as many as I can, but I... I'm sorry about all this! I love you all! -tears up again-

_Peace out,_

+Ma-chan!


	18. Follow

**A/N:** Egads! I've just returned back form Mexico, and the flight was absolute hell. I don't really want to get into it, but we ended up missing out slight cause of a typo and then we had to rebook and stop in Seattle and Dallas... Agh. And my way going to Mexico was even worse. At least I wasn't on the flight where they sprayed de-icer into the plain and everyone got sick! . That's their new email adress. Dealwithit. Nyuuu I've been really busy lately! Three cheers for final exams. Oh, and I got back to scool a week after school started, so when I walked into French class yesterday morning, my French teacher started screaming at me for _skipping the whole week of school. _I was like, as if I could get away with that anyway! But enough with cliche teenage drama. _On wit teh stori!_ Chapter 18! Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** I own every single anime ever invented _except_ Soul Eater. Isn't that ironic?

---

Looking at the girl at the counter, she ground her teeth. Hadn't enough girls hit on him for the day? But even Maka had to admit that wet clothes didn't look bad on him. Glancing at Black Star, she realized even he was was really fit. It was obvious that they both must work out a lot, which was normal for a student at Shibusen. But, being a teenaged girl, she couldn't keep her eyes of of Soul, who was now holding the ice cream cone and staring at it inquiringly.

'You know,' he began, waking Maka up from whatever daze she was in, 'I've only had ice cream once before.'

Before she could say anything, Black Star gasped, staring at Soul in horror as they made their way out of the shop.

'W-w-w-w-what?! Only once before?!'

He shouted, disturbing some birds that were perched on a nearby bench. They were back to where they started in the beautiful park, with the large trees with golden leaves and the carefully manicured green grass that lined it. Soul nodded, and Black Star wiped a tear away from his eye.

'T-that's the saddest thing I've ever heard,' He admitted, and Soul stared at him for a second until he realized he was joking. Maka glanced over at him. He had begun to look slightly uncomfortable, so she darted over and grabbed the cone of ice cream out of his hand, taking a large bite out of it before her eyes widened.

'Brain-freeze!' She screamed through a mouth full of ice-cream, and Black Star pointed and laughed as Soul mirrored him. She glared at them both. How would she find a way to shut these two up?

'It's not funny!'

She whined, her mouth still full, and that only caused them to laugh even harder. Black Star collapsed on the ground, nearly dropping his cone, and Soul grinned.

'It's that good, huh?'

He called to her, and she glared at him some more. Walking over, he bent down and tasted it, for a second looking uncertain before he broke out into a smile again.

'It's delicious! You better share, Maka.' He told her, inches away from her face, which was covered in chocolate, and she was actually grateful for this since it hid her blush. She shoved the ice cream in his direction and turned away, pretending to look for Black Star. At least that was the case until she found him chasing a pigeon who had somehow managed to steal his cone.

But that wasn't all. Maka's intuition suddenly picked up on someone staring at her, and she cast a look around the park, noticing nothing unusual. But she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched.

'Was it really okay to let him have that much sugar?' She asked Soul and he shrugged before taking another lick of the ice cream. The wind picked up, and Maka shivered. As always, this disturbed Soul, so he walked over to the side of the street and put his hand up into the air, trying to flag down a taxi. Maka couldn't stop herself from bursting out laughing when the taxi with the torn and missing door drove past, and Soul laughed too while Black Star glowered at the fact that he wasn't in on the joke.

As soon as a cab arrived, Maka sat down, looking out the window across the street. She noticed someone else was feeding the pigeons now, but the maroon eyes were following someone else. They were staring right at her.

She shuddered in anxiety at the cold gaze until suddenly the woman waved, and realization dawned on her when she noticed it was the old lady from a few days ago outside the cafe with Siege. She waved back, trying not to let herself be disturbed by the way she had been following Maka with her eyes before as the cab took off, leaving her behind.

Black Star bounced in his chair.

'So where do you guys live?' He asked, and Maka answered for them both.

'Shibusen Apartments.' She told him, and he laughed.

'Awesome! That's where I live too!' He finished, and Soul and him high-fived while Maka groaned.

'Well, I don't really have anything to do tonight, so how about we hang out at my place?' Black Star suggested, and Maka paused when she realized something.

'Black Star... If you live in the apartments, that means you have to attend Shibusen, right?' He nodded. 'Well then, shouldn't you have been at school?' She asked, and Black Star frowned at her.

'Jeez, what are you, my mom? I was at school, but they suspended me for the rest of the day for yelling at a teacher.' Maka sighed. Maybe she shouldn't be hanging around people like him. But judging from Soul's smile, he seemed to like him, so she didn't say anything as they arrived home and headed for apartment 148, Black Star's room. When he unlocked the door and they walked in, Maka gasped. It was stunning.

The tan suede couches were bound to be expensive, and all the other furniture was obviously designer as well. Maka's jaw dropped; this monkey had picked out these kinds of designs? She shook her head, turning to Black Star.

'Hey, you didn't decorate this place, did you?' She accused, and his eyes widened innocently.

'Why, of course I did-' He was cut off by Soul's hand over his eyes, and he jumped, trying to spin around but not being able to pull the hand off.

'Did you?' He asked darkly, and Black Star fell silent.

'Nah, my partner Tsubaki did it.' He told him automatically before throwing a hand over his mouth. When Soul removed his hand, Black Star spun around to stare at him in awe as Soul grinned lazily.

'Whoa, what was that trick? It's like, soon as you put your hand there; I couldn't think straight!' Soul laughed.

'When someone loses one of their five senses, their confidence drops and such a slight panic that its hardly noticeable sets in. But even if you don't realize its there, it can have a big impact on how you think. So if you don't have a strong connection between your body and soul, it can steer your thoughts, especially if you feel pressured, like when you're trying to lie, or if someones talking to you in a very serious manner.' He explained in a dictionary-definition-type way. Black Star stared at him.

'Wait, what?' that time, even Maka laughed. 'Do it to me!' She called out, and he walked over and placed a hand over her eyes. She liked it; his hand was warm.

'Now, try to lie about this.' He told her softly before his tone changed. 'Do you live in these apartments?'

She twitched. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself down, and it made it easier to think.

'Oh, definitely not. I live with two slobs for parents in a dirty cardboard box with a pet snail!' She told him, waving her hands as her heartbeat sped up. He was right; the pressure of the way he was speaking and her missing eyesight was making it more difficult to keep her calm. Her voice was an octave higher than it should have been to make the lie sound believable. That, and who would ever want to have a pet snail, or how would two grown people and a child all fit in a cardboard box?

Black Star burst out laughing at her lie, and Soul smiled, looking slightly lost in thought before he shook his head and smiled at her.

'Good job,' he told her softly before turning away, glancing out the window. The fact that his muscles were tensed didn't pass Maka by. So he really was still gettiny used to the social scene. Funny how easy it was for him to look perfectly normal in public and end up being so shaky behind the closes doors still surprised the blonde girl. And even more surprising was that he began to ntoice the littler things that Soul did- a twitch of his hand when Black  
Star mentioned something on a touchy subject for him, or when the tone of his voice changed depending on what mood he was trying to display.

What was a lie and what wasn't?

Maka couldn't even begin to guess.

---

**A/N:** Nyar! That was also pretty fun to write! Ugh but the fic starts getting darker at chapter 25-ish, so you still have a good few chapters ahead of you before you start having to cuddle your blankie :D Did you see her, huh, huh?! The old lady! She's back! I said she would be, didn't I? I had a dream about her the other night where she bought like a hundred ducks and then fed them to me without knowing, and I was crying when I found out that I ate all of these little baby duckies. Damn witch! She'll pay for my sleeping anguish! I swear if my name isn't Ma-chan! _(which, technically, it isn't ;)_ ...Shhhh...

I read all of your reviews and loved them! Ehehehe My goal in Mexico was to make it to 40 pre-written chapters, and you know what I got to? 39 and a three quarters. All because my photoshop decided to start actiing up and my computer shut down while I was still writing. Seriously, I REALLY need a new laptop :P Well, I'm off to read random fanfiction! Chow!

_Peace out,_

+Ma-chan! xoxo


	19. Sleepover

**A/N:** I planned on updating on Sunday, but my computer was left at my cousins. A big apology for having such a late update! It's been weeks. Anyways, I'm thrilled with how many reviews I've recieved! It's amazing to see everyone's happy with the story, since as its writer all I can see are the flaws ;-; Well, the story takes a random swerve into a whole knew direction in the next few chapters! Be prepared, because its in twenty-two or three or something that they go back to school... and it's not pretty. For any people with heart conditions of pregancy, I suggest skipping the next twenty chapters or so... xD Chapter 19! Enjoy.

I'm over my head in art trades right now, and I just finished up final exams, so once again, but appology for the lack of update. I _hope_ it won't happen again ;D No promises though. As much as I appreciate authors who update daily, I'm not one of them, because I have a life. And currently, it's spinning around in circles and making me dizzy, so watch out for typos!

**Disclaimer: **I own Ul Ter. My friend owns So Ea. We were thinking of banding together and created the ultimate new anime with awesome openings and sweet characters with rocking moves... but decided against it. So because of this, I don not own Soul Eater. Sorry, folks.

---

'Good,' he told her softly before turning away. The fact that his muscles were tense didn't pass Maka by. He changed the subject, a sure sign he was suddenly uncomfortable again.

'So what movies do you have?' He breathed, and Black Star held up the phone.

'Nu-uh. First we're ordering Chinese food, and we're gonna call Tsubaki and have her join us. Then we'll figure that out.' He told them, and Soul whipped out an iPhone. Maka stared at it in longing.

'I'll get the food, you get the girl.' He told Black Star, who nodded and started dialing.

'And me?' She asked him, and he glanced down at her, blinking before a smile appeared on his face.

'You can make the popcorn!' He told her with a razor-toothed grin, and she laughed, running into the kitchen and raiding the cupboards for some of the delicious snack. Tsubaki arrived about twenty minutes later, surprisingly with Siege, and all five curled up on the couches, Siege and Tsubaki on one, Soul and Maka on the other, and Black Star lying on his belly on the floor with a soft black blanket laying lazily over his back.

'Okay you guys, we have school tomorrow, so I know I'll wake up early enough, and I'll wake you guys up too if you don't manage to get up on your own around 7:30, okay? Feel free to shower; I'm here almost more than Black Star is, so it's practically my second home, and therefor, it's relatively clean.' She explained and they nodded before settling in.

Curling up, Maka watched as they threw in the movie Black Star had picked out. Naturally, Tsubaki had fought with him on it, and they had ended up picking out _A View to a Kill, _the fourteenth James Bond movie, starring Roger Moore.

Grabbing a hand full of the popcorn, Maka tossed one in the air, preparing to catch it in her mouth, only to watch a hand shoot out and catch the snack before throwing it in his own mouth. Soul grinned at her, the popcorn balancing between his sharp teeth, and she glared at him. Grabbing the phone book they had pulled out for the Chinese Food delivery, which still hadn't arrived, she whacked him over the head with it.

'Maka chop!' She called out, and Tsubaki high-fived her, Black Star and Siege burst out laughing. Soul rubbed his head, still grinning. Even Black Star couldn't deny the fangs were disturbing, but they didn't seem to have the slightest effect on Maka. She laughed and smiled as if she were talking to Siege. Although Black Star also had to admit that he kind of liked the guy.

An hour into the second movie of the night and after they ate the take-out, Maka was nodded off, her hands unconsciously clutching Soul's shirt as she watched Bond burst into a room and knock down four guards single-handedly before knocking down a door and grabbing the beautiful blond woman from the room she was being kept in.

Her head finally gave up and collapsed on Soul's shoulder, and he twitched, looking down at her sleeping figure. She was a lot cuter when she wasn't hitting him with books or scowling at him, that was for sure. Grinning, he leaned back on the couch and let himself drift off to sleep.

He had never slept better.

xxx

When Maka awoke, she realized she was half-sitting on something soft, but quite hardened under the surface. Her eyes half-opened; she took in the cozy navy fleece blanket laying over her, and...

The large arm hanging over her shoulder, and the peacefully sleeping Soul spread out of the couch. Her eyes widened when she finally found the last detail of her surroundings.

She was sitting on him. Sitting on top of Soul.

Both knees were laying across his lap, and her head had been rested comfortably on his shoulder. One arm had been laying across his opposite shoulder, but she had softly removed it, a dark blush appearing across her face, careful not to wake him up. No one else was awake, but Tsubaki wasn't in the room, which meant she had probably seen the lovely display before her.

Looking up at Soul's sleeping face, she realized just how close his face was. He was deathly pale, as usual, and the dark marks under his eyes showed for his obvious lack of sleep. She studied the skin; it was smooth, and he looked perfectly relaxed. Maka wasn't sure if she had ever seen him like that before; he was usually frowning, or a worried expression covered his careful features.

Although yesterday, he seemed to be having fun, Maka never missed the random glances over his shoulder, or the times when he might just zone out, staring into the distance with glazed eyes. Sometimes, when he was feeling extreme emotion, the walls around his eyes would drop, and she'd get a glimpse into his mind; even if he was smiling broadly, there was always some anguished regret or deep sorrow foreshadowing it, or lurking behind it. And sometimes it was easy to tell he was simply faking a smile so as to not bring them down.

She'd have to work on that.

So instead of leaping off of him, blushing madly, and storming into another room, she got the color of her face under control and lowered her eyelids as she relaxed her facial expression. Lifting a delicate hand, she stroked his cheek just once, careful not to let that blush slip out again.

One crimson eye half opened, unfocused and glazed. When he finally locked on her eyes, so close to his, his other eye opened slightly, and he yawned widely, his breath warm and still smelling of the spear mint toothpaste they had used in Black Star's bathroom the night before.

Looking at her, his eyes studied her face carefully, his face still expressionless. Finally he spoke.

---

**A/N:** Fluff? I pull it out the randomest places, don't I? I know I keep saying this story is going to get really dark, and it is, but I totally forgot about this chapter, and the next one! Wtf is wrong with me? I'm the worst writer for this kind of story xD I really _should_ stick to crack. Yet even if its fun to read, its not as satifying to write. Has anyone else noticed that? Anyways, blarg, it's late, and I got back from shopping, and yesterday I had bot my French _and _math exam in one day! My head was spinning, and I probably barely passed them xD As if I'm going to get that scholaship I'm trying to grab up. I swear, if I wasn't an actress, they would've have shouted 'next' and left me alone a _loooooong _time ago!

No mini-theatre, since I'm not bothering to write one! Instead, here's a charrie profile! Kind of unrelated, but I hate leaving raqndom OC's hanging nowhere and often bring them up later in the stories. And Maddy, as much as it pains me to say, plays an important roll in the late thirties of the chapters I think... I'll probably shock you right out of your pants when you see what happens to her! And then you won't have any pants, and it'll be really embarassing!

AHHHHH LOVE the reviews! You guys are, like, soooooo awesome! It doesn't get any better that this! I've never felt so loved. Except for this one time at this gymnastics thingy when I was five and I got a gold ribbon on the vault and someone threw a bouquet of flowers at me! Granted it was my Aunt, but it still felt pretty good. Also when I saw my name in the credits of _Barbie and the Twelve Dancing Princesses._ But I'm getting a little off-topic!

**Character Profile #2: **Maddy

**Name:** Maddy Squire

**Gender:** Girl

**Age:** 31 years old

**Blood type:** A

**Appearance:** Straight, thick blond hair dropping just past her shoulders.  
Her eyes are a smudged shade of hazel that can come off as golden in  
certain lighting, and she prefers to dress in comfortable clothing as  
opposed to the whole 'pain for beauty' prospect. This isn't to say she  
dresses particularly badly, but she's not even close to a glamor girl.

**Personality:** Her personality is basically just timid by nature, but soft,  
and a bit of a pushover. Maddy would usually seek someone close to her  
out if she really needed to rant or get some anger out of her system,  
which is why not very many people have seen her anger. She's not very fierce,  
and prefers calm, content surroundings to the party scene.

**Brief History: **Maddy loves to read with a passion, and from a young age,  
aspired to work someone she might have access to many books. For three years  
she worked as a professor on a hefty scholarship to university in preparing for the  
job, but in the end, chose to settle down as a small-town librarian. She's also working  
on her own book series diligently.

_Peace out,_

+Ma-chan loves you!


	20. Years Of Practice

**A/N:** Ah, long break, like what, a month? Well, to make up for being a lazy, museless lump, I'll release another one today or tomorrow :D How's that sound? Yay for ten centimeter long chapters! I swear they get longer in the future. It just shocks me how long it takes to write something and look to see you've only done, like, a paragraph. But at least you can expect better chapters in the far future, writing-style wise. People only improve, very rarely does a person get WORSE at something.

Reviews equal love. As in, I love you guys more than any of my other reviewers I've ever had for stories that I've either deleted, turned on hiatus or finished cleanly. Speaking of which, I really should update some of my hiatus stories. It's been awhile o.o But 243 reviews rocks my socks. Rocks them, throws them onto a band, sign them onto a talent agency and turn them into stars. And that's just my _socks. _Think about how _I_ feel!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own it! I don't own it, alright? Now get out of my room! -swipes at lawyers with a broom- OUT!

* * *

---

Although yesterday, he seemed to be having fun, Maka never missed the random glances over his shoulder, or the times when he might just zone out, staring into the distance with glazed eyes. Sometimes, when he was feeling extreme emotion, the walls around his eyes would drop, and she'd get a glimpse into his mind; even if he was smiling broadly, there was always some anguished regret or deep sorrow shadowing it, or lurking behind it. And sometimes it was easy to tell he was simply faking a smile so as to not bring them down.

She'd have to work on that.

So instead of leaping off of him, blushing madly, and storming into another room, she got the color of her face under control and lowered her eyelids as she relaxed her facial expression. Lifting a delicate hand, she touched his face, careful not to let that blush slip out again.

One crimson eye half opened, unfocused and glazed. When he finally locked on her eyes, so close to his, his other eye opened slightly, and he yawned widely, his breath warm and tickling her and still smelling of the spear mint tooth paste from the night before.

Looking at her, his eyes studied her face carefully, his face still expressionless. Finally he spoke.

'Am I still dreaming...?' He asked her tiredly, still not really taking in his surroundings, and she laughed softly, careful not to wake the others up. Surely she would die of humiliation if Black Star was to wake up and find her sitting on his lap, but she just felt such compassion for him, so alone in his cold gray apartment, with his piano being his only company for years on end.

'No, this is real.' She told him, and he blinked slowly, shaking his head, still half-asleep.

'Nah, the real Maka would have hit me and ran away by now.' He explained to her, stifling another yawn. She opened her mouth to argue, but decided to keep her face still once again. To see someone frowning at him from up close so early in the morning would definitely not help him now.

'My, my.' She laughed quietly, studying the red eyes. She couldn't read them; he must've been very tired.

'Soul, how often do you sleep?' Maka asked, and he stared at her with the same unfocused expression. Relaxing his shoulders, he answered.

'Mmmaybe an hour or two a day...' He trailed off from the exhausted slur, nearly falling back asleep.

'Why?' She murmured, and he opened his eyes to look at her again.

'Because I can't... fall... asleep...' He tried to answer, struggling against sleep. Realizing that he must still believe he was dreaming, and wasn't thinking straight anyway, she found that he was probably not even thinking about the questions before answering. That means she was getting the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. About time.

'Do you know the reason?' She questioned quietly, and he replied without opening his eyes this time.

'...I was sleeping when they came to my house...'

Her heart clenched painfully, and her grip tightened on his shirt. She didn't need to ask him what he meant to know what he was talking about; he wouldn't let himself fall asleep because he felt scared that what happened on December 19th would happen again; the night where his family was taken from him. How come she hadn't thought of it earlier? It irked her to see that he said this so casually, as if he had just accepted it.

Tears began rolling down her cheeks as she watched him stir slightly at the moisture that had made its way onto his shirt, and his eyes finally opened completely. He didn't seem to remember any of the past interview, so he stared at her, completely bewildered at the closeness of her crying face. She stared right back, completely silent as the tears dripped down off her face and onto the boy beneath her.

'Maka...?' He asked, disbelief apparent in his eyes. And in a flash she had leaped off of him and gone running off in the direction of the bathroom, slamming the door behind her and collapsing against the back of the door, swiping at the tears on her face as a broken sob escaped her lips.

Now Maka was confused. Why had this had such a horrible effect on her? Had the deep sympathy she felt for him really been enough to reduce her to tears? She grabbed a face cloth and ran it over her face, trying to calm herself as the tears continued coming, her eyes quickly reddening. She tried to be as quiet as possible, sure that Soul would hear every cry she let out, so she held one hand over her mouth, the warm salt water still running down her face freely.

And then it hit her. She wasn't crying. Now she remembered; it was the soul resonance. Being so close to him must have triggered the technique; maybe that's also why her presence hadn't been enough to completely wake him up. It was just liking sitting beside himself. She wasn't crying at all.

He was.

She was crying what he wouldn't let himself do.

Another sob, and she ran over to the sink, splashing cold water over her face. But it was another ten minutes before she finally stopped crying; now she just leaned against the door, too embarrassed to go out and face them all. Slamming the door had woken up the monkey- now Black Star would laugh and call her names. But she had to be brave. Maka wasn't a baby.

Opening the door an inch, she peeked out. No one else was in the the room save for Soul, who was sitting on the end of the couch, staring at the ground. Glancing up when he saw her, she noticed he had placed the emotional barrier up once again; the resonance was over, and now it was just him and her, her and him, Soul and Maka.

Staring at each other for a long time, she finally opened the door all the way, standing awkwardly in the doorway, one arm clutching the other just above the elbow. Suddenly he stood up, walking over to where she was. He stopped, looking down at her before his arms suddenly closed around her in a deep hug. Her first reaction was bewilderment- Soul Eater Evans was giving _her _a hug? But soon she relaxed into his grip, and even wrapped her arms around his shoulders, enjoying the warmth his own provided on the back of her neck, and she once again experienced the pleasure of warm breath hitting her as he whispered in her ear,

'I'm sorry.'

And then they broke apart, Maka looking up at him in complete understanding. The barrier was gone for a second; he was gazing at her with unmasked pain and a deep, deep tiredness Maka hadn't thought possible in the scarlet depths. Then Soul turned around and picked up his bag before he pointed to hers.

'The others have already left. Tsubaki left you a bagel on the counter there, but if we don't leave now we'll be late for school, so can you eat it on the way?' He asked her, and she nodded wide-eyed as the two walked silently out the door, Soul whipping out a key Black Star had probably given him to lock it.

They walked down the stairs together, still not speaking, and finally they came out onto the street. Maka took a deep breath.

What was that? He had completely reverted from that vulnerable state, and spoken as if he was talking about a nice breeze on a summer day. How had he managed to completely replace the emotion in his voice, his eyes, on his face? Someone could probably throw a piece of fruit at him and he'd be able to smile and, knowing his unpredictability, flown off into the sunset on a dragon. The shock digested and she decided to speak before they capture a taxi.

'Soul, how is it that you can do that?' She called, forgetting that he had not just heard her inner thoughts. She was so used to him being able to read her mind that she had forgotten he wasn't actually clairvoyant. He looked at her blankly and she hastily finished,

'H-hide your emotions like that? I mean, I've seen you angry, and a minute later, you'll be buying us all coffee and laughing as Black Star spills it all over himself.' He cracked a grin, but now that Maka was looking for it, she realized it was fake.

'Who _wouldn't_ laugh at that?'

'You're avoiding the question.'

His smile faded, and he sighed, staring down at the ground, silently inspecting a long crack that had broken through the sidewalk and allowed patches of grass to poke through. He laughed, but it didn't sound right- nothing was funny. It felt almost like he was laughing at _himself_. Maka flinched away from it. Finally he spoke with a melancholy smile,

'Years of practice, Maka. Years of practice.'

---

* * *

**A/N**: This makes me, like, halfway through where I've gotten up to in pre-writes. Just when I think I've hit fifty, I realized that it's only been forty -.- Well, I hope you guys didn't think that at the half-way point everything would be all fluffy-muffy for the rest of the time, despite my huge warnings of disaster to come. I think I might finish this guy off at around fifty chapters actually, so look out- I seriously have been re-reading my pre-writes and finding myself going in an entirely different direction than I began. Remember when I said that this story would end where the other began? Scratch that. This story had officially been switched to a messed-up, semi-fluffy thirller AU fic. But here's the good news! It's still a SOUL EATER fic. And that, m friends, won't be changing for a while!

To all nice, long, detailed reviews, I have worshipped and replied to you smoothly ;) If I haven't replied to yours, well, its because there isn't much to say except _thanks! _and _keep reading, I'll update soon! _Or I might've just missed yours. I hope that didn't come out badly, considering every review means the world to me, but I juggle a near-constant rate of art trades, several other stories on other sites, and maintain a site myself... All while making tiem for school, music, manga, and all that good stuff ;) Plz forgive me, and do not under any conditions stop reading and reviewing!

This story will only get darker, I promise you that, so faint of heart, hold onto your eyes, or they might fall out of your head~! Now, I leave you with this!

-puppy dog eyes- Please review!

LOVE MA-CHAN. xoxoxoxox!!


	21. Rumors

**A/N: **Well, something strange had just happened o.o I open chapter 21 to rest my horrified eyes on 255 words. WTF? Where's the usual one thousand? Why is there only 255 there? Did I miss something? Mess up somehow? EHHHHH?! So I used 22 instead o.o

Ah well, whatevs. Reading your reviews made me very happy! (There was about twenty, but a bunch of them weresapphire anime bubble catching up on all the reviews she hadn't written for past chapters. And some people don't bother to review at all! -begins to tear up again- Jeez, wtf Ma-chan, ya cry baby :P Am I talking to myself again?)

Okie dokie! I have a surprise for everyone who might've been confused as to why I haven't done this ages ago. I've decided to compensate for my ridiculously long break (about a month and a half? -.-) by drawing a picture of Soul, Maka, and Melon :PPP Strange mix o.o Please tell me what you think!

http://maads(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Now-Am-I-Out-Of-Character-115454804

Chapter 21/22! Enjoy.

* * *

---

When they got downstairs, several taxis passed by them, staring at Soul in various different expressions such as horror, pity, fear, and fury. Maka smiled up at him.

'Let me take this, 'kay?'

She told him, and he nodded, turning away. She missed the fact that he had accidentally let a blush slip onto his cheeks. What, she had been the first person he had grown to trust for years, and he couldn't even flag down a taxi for her? Ridiculous. And he was supposed to be her partner- Yeah, right.

When he had woken up to her agonized expression, it had threatened to crush him. She was looking right at him, with such an expression on her face, and somehow he had been the cause? Shaking his head, he cursed himself. _Can't I do anything right? I hurt her even when I'm not conscious!_

A taxi pulled over shortly, regret passing over the drivers facial features when they saw Soul walk out from behind a large blue van parked on the street and walk into the car after Maka. The driver, a man who looked like her was in his mid-forties with dark hair and dark eyes, had begun to stare, so Maka kicked the back of his seat hard enough for him to feel the bump, and he turned to look at her in shock only to see her looking out the window casually.

The man shook his head, starting the car, and the drive from the apartment to Shibusen was an uneventful one. Maka stared out the window, lost in thought, and Soul tapped on his knees nervously. Today he would be entering school with someone else, and that would surely bring long stares. As if he didn't already have enough unwanted attention.

The taxi came to a stop right outside the long path and the gate into Shibusen. The driver was reluctant to get any closer, so Soul payed for their drive against Maka's protests and they made their way up the path.

They walked in silence, and Maka looked at Soul. He looked nervous. Really nervous. He was probably scared of having to go see Shinigami today with news of their unspoken partnership. She glanced at his face. Even more pale than usual.

'Hey, Soul?' She called, poking his arm. He turned his head to look at her while they continued walking, his hands in his pockets.

'Are you okay?' She asked, and he stopped, staring at her incredulously. She blinked.

'What-?' He cut her off.

'Am I okay? Maka, are you okay? I wake up this morning only to find you crying! And then ran away!' He exclaimed, waving his hands without realization. She stared at him.

'I wasn't crying.' She told him quietly, and he rolled his eyes.

'Oh, yeah, sure, you weren't crying. I'm not so out of it that I can't recognize that a girl is crying right on top of me!' At this, Maka turned away, a blush arising on her face, but she got it under control and gazed up at him wide-eyed.

'I wasn't crying.' She explained calmly. 'You were.' His own eyes flashed at this, and he sighed.

'Speaking in riddles again,' He stated, and she grabbed his arm.

'I'm not speaking in riddles, you were the one who was crying. I was just stuck with the tears.' She said, and he stared at her as the wind rustled leaves around them in a whirlwind of autumn air. His eyes were as hard as the pavement beneath them. She couldn't read a single thing in them.

'That doesn't make sense-'

'Yes, it does. You remember the soul resonance, when I first heard you play? If our emotions are too in-sync, sometimes we accidentally perform soul resonance.' She explained, and he stared at her before shaking his head.

'No. I wasn't crying. That doesn't make any sense. I wasn't sad!' He yelled out, and Maka took his arm and pulled him towards her in a hug. He stood there, astonished, but strangely, it wasn't awkward. She buried her face in his shoulder.

'You're always sad.'

He froze, and her grip on him tightened. Leaves fell form the trees in all different shades; orange, brown, read, gold, and the breeze was warmer than the crisp air suggested; the sun managed to peak through the gray clouds. They stayed locked in an embrace fore a few minutes until Maka finally dared to look at Soul.

His eyes were closed, and he had wrapped his own arms around her long ago, fingers entwining with the fabric of her coat- his coat. She was wearing the black one today because it was warmer than her own. When he opened the red eyes, they looked tired. Of everything. Just tired of everything.

Turning his head, he looked down at her, and she nodded, holding him even tighter if that was possible. After a bit, she murmured,

'We're going to be late,' And he laughed softly, a ghost of a smile appearing on his face as they began walking again, his hands in his pockets once again. They were both watching their feet all the way to the door into the school, but neither was uncomfortable or embarrassed. Both were just really, _really _nervous. Maka took a deep breath.

Go time.

When Soul pushed the door open, heads turned to look in their direction, just to see who had arrived. To be expected, their eyes widened when they took in that Soul was actually entering the building with another person, and a girl at that. A blush threatened to make its appearance on her cheeks for what must've been the third time that day, but she held her head up as high as she could and glanced at Soul with a smile on her face. The nervousness was beginning to show up again, and he seemed to get even more tense than before.

The crowd also noticed this, and all chatter went quiet as they walked quietly through the halls, the steady clack of their shoes on the marble floor the only thing that broke the silence. After a minute, the whispering started, and Soul resisted the urge to put both hands over his eyes and scream. Maka moved in closer beside him. They caught fragments of the rumors beginning to spread.

Maka sighed. It would be a long day.

* * *

---

**A/N:** Sooo! Does that one qualify as a cliffie? Rhetorical question xD Maybe it would've been better if I had left you guys with the last one. Seriously review! I want to bask in the warm glow of many many reviews! Because 300 reviews makes for a happy Ma-chan, and a happy Ma-chan makes for a longer story!

Jeez, I'm gonna go to bed tonight plannign the entire grand finale of this story on the question; _Who killed Souls parents? Why? And why did Maddy have to-_

-cough- Sorry, I can't finish that sentence, or else it'd mean for a horrible spoiler ^^ Guess you'll just have to find out yourself by continuing to read!

Everything I had to say that isn't relative to the latest chapter can be found in the last chapter- I'd suggest reading that one before reading this one xD -laughing applause- Thank you, thank you. Now if you'll please excuse me, I'm off to shower. Don't forget to check out the pic at the top!

_  
Peace Out,_

+Ma-chan


	22. Overreacting

**A/N**: So I wonder if anyone else was wondering where Spirit had been this whole time? Lol. Thank you for the reviewing, I must have gotten nearly twenty reviews for the last chapter and I'm sooo happy~! Please continue with the same vigor as always. I'm almost at the 300 mark and I'm thrilled!

-gasp- Did anyone else read the latest SE chapter, the one for March? Iz good huh? Spiderwoman sucks Dx But she's going down anyway. Well, enough babbling, on to the chapter, which is what I'd call decent length. Chapter twenty-three! Enjoy.

**Dislcaimer:** I wearing silver nailpolish- that alone should tell you that I don't own Soul Eater. Obviously I don't own it! GAWD PEOPLE, USE YOUR HEADS!

* * *

- - -

_'... -they dating? I've seen them both before, but I never thought...'_

_'...-probably scared her into walking with him...'_

_'...-Maybe she's gone insane. It's been happening more often lately, you know...'_

Maka shivered at the horrible remarks, glaring down the hall and at anyone who dared to stare at them. The whispering continued, and she saw one person walk over to another and relay the false accusation he had just heard from another person to them. She paused, but Soul tugged at her hand, eager to leave the hallway behind. Yet when he found she still wouldn't budge, he looked at him in curiosity. She didn't glance up, scared that she would lose her nerve. And then she spun around.

'Would you all be so kind as to _shut up?_ For the love of god, I'm not crazy, he doesn't scare me, and _we are not going out! _Why don't you stop gossiping about our lives and go find you own? I may not be crazy now, but if this continues I fear for my goddamn sanity!'

She seethed, and everyone stared at her in astonishment and for some, outright fear. Turning around, she took Soul's hand again, and smiled up into his shocked face kindly.

'Shall we go now?' She asked in a normal tone, and he nodded silently before they continued their walk down the halls, a little more bounce in her pace now. They heard no more whispering.

When they were out of sight, and only the odd student was seen walking down the halls, Soul smiled. It was a few minutes before they finally found the door into the tunnel that lead to Shinigami's hall, and they pulled it open together, staring in awe at the long corridor. Whispy, animate clouds floated around the ground and beside them, and Maka ran her fingers through one, only to have it fade into the air and appear a few feet behind her.

When they were out of the tunnel, Maka couldn't help but to smile at the windows in the sky that looked on into the outside. But neither were prepared for what was about to ambush them from out of nowhere. At least not until they heard that massive wail of pure joy, and Maka sidestepped to avoid the flying death scythe that was Maka's father. It hardly even slowed him down anymore; smashing face-first into concrete, I mean.

'M-M-MAKAAAAAAAAA!!' Spirit cried, launching himself at her once again. She avoided him easily enough, but he wasn't giving up wither, still not seeming to notice Soul stared at them both in surprised, open amusement. It didn't last long though.

'Maka, how could you do this to your poor father? Don't you realize yet how much I love you?!' He screamed, and Maka groaned before she felt Soul freeze. She looked up at him curiously.

'...Soul?' She called softly. He looked panicked for a second until suddenly he was back to his normal guarded self, and she tugged on his sleeve.

'What is it?'

He shook his head, as if to ward off the question, but she continued to tug as Spirit sobbed on the ground, getting her shoes wet.

'Nothing.'

This troubled her, but she didn't pry, and Spirit turned around, facing the wall, and laughed arrogantly.

'Haha, that's right! He's just freaked out. because I, Death Scythe, am your _father, _Maka!' Soul flinched at the word as Spirit continued to laugh loudly until he suddenly broke off.

'Wait a minute Maka, did you say Soul-' As he turned, he suddenly spotted the white-haired teenager before him, clutching Maka's small hand. The red eyes watched him, unreadable, as usual.

'...Eater Evans...' He finished, staring at him before he suddenly clenched his fist and punched him right in the face. Soul hit the ground, catching himself with his opposite hand, and and wung in his direction, but Soul narrowly avoided the hit, staring at Death Scythe with no surprise in his expression, just annoyance. And maybe regret... but the expression was hard before either had time to see what he was thinking.

'Papa! What's wrong with you?!' Maka yelled at him, leaning down to inspect him for any signs of injury even though he hadn't seen his fist connect with anything.

'What's wrong? Maka! What are you doing hanging around people like this!'

Soul winced at the last three words, and Maka glared at him with such fury that Spirit took a step back, cringing. She didn't say anything though, she just took Soul's hand as he began to lift himself up and led him out of the room. Before she shut the door, she cast one last look at her father, muttering something he didn't hear before she slammed the door.

When they were back in the hall, she stopped and looked at Soul.

'I'm so sorry! I mean he's always been overprotective, but that was just crazy. Don't worry, once he get's used to you, he shouldn't... I really am sorry, I didn't think he would actually try to hit you like that.' She explained, and Soul gazed at the ground, rubbing his jaw in the pot where he would have been hit had he not ducked at the last moment.

'...I did.' He murmured.

'...Sorry...' She said again, and he shook his head, the fakest smile she'd ever seen on his face.

'Nah, it's fine. We can go back, if you want-' Maka cut him off, shaking her head.

'Of course not. We can always reach Shinigami through a window or a mirror, and I'm so furious I fear that I'll tear my fath- _him_ to pieces.' She avoided the word, noticing that it obviously made him uncomfortable, and he relaxed visibly in relief. She was reminded about how unhstable he was once again, when the smallest things could make or break the conversations.

'Thanks.' He told her, and she nodded as they walked towards one of the large windows on the wall. Most were stained glass, but a few of them looked out onto the rest o the massive school.

Maka breathed on the window, leaving the small cloud of condensation forming on the thick layer of glass. Then she took her finger and quickly began writing the familiar numbers that would connect her to Shinigami. As the tone rang and she waited for him to answer, she tapped her foot impatiently. She was still angry at her father.

'Yo! What's up, Maka!' She heard the voice on the other line call her and looked up to see the unnerving white skeletal face of Shinigami speaking to her as he flashed her a peace sign. She breathed a sigh of relief, and Soul simply watched the image carefully.

'What do you need help with?' He called, and she gave him a smile as Soul stepped forward into view.

'Oh, hello, Soul! How are you?' Shinigami asked, waving.

'Fine.' He answered briskly, and Maka continued.

'We tried to speak to you in your own quarters, but Papa interrupted us.' She glanced at Soul; he was watching a spider crawl up the wall with very little interest.

'Ah yes, Death Scythe! He told me what happened- don't worry about him, he's been dealt with properly.' Maka didn't question him further about that; Shinigami wasn't kidding when he made statements like that.

'Anyways, we have a lot to talk about- including you and Soul's recent partnership-' Maka stared at him in shock. How had he already figured that out? Shinigami waved it off.

'Well, we'll talk about it in my place. Death Scythe is gone now anyways, so you can come back.' She nodded and the connection turned back to the clear glass as they found themselves looking at the gray brick of one of the towers outside rather than their leader.

They made it back to the door fairly quickly, and Maka's hand slid onto the handle. She glanced up at the scarlet eyes of her future partner.

'Are you ready?' Maka asked Soul, her green eyes sparkling.

'...Yeah.' He said, a genuine smile lighting up his pale features. And then they opened the door.

* * *

- - -

**A/N: **Madness I tell you, madness! We're almost up to the flashback point, which I'm planning on editing so much it's not even funny, after reading it and finding that the work from Nov/Dec was unsatisfactory. In any case, click the button and unleash your fury upon me, it's what keeps me breathing. And you know, I can't write if I'm not breathing :D -narrow-minded logic-

_Peace Out,_

+Ma-chan!_  
_


	23. The Whole Story

**A/N: **What can I say? My life was eating me alive. I also lost my muse to write this story for a while, but after some re-reading, I can say that I'll have my hands full with re-writing ten chapters (ch. 30-40). I'm already at chapter 36, but omg, trying to keep this story's plot in check is one of the hardest tasks ever. I can't even believe that I came up with this thing o.o Well, it's catching up to me now, that's for sure. Chapter twenty-three! Enjoy.

**Review News: **Thank you to Werecat Rei for claiming the three-hundreth review! THREE HUNDRED. HOLY HAMPSTER HAMBURGER. I AM OVER-JOYED! If I get to five-hundred I'm going to eat my own legs, I swear.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. I don't even own myself. I belong to my Copic pens sitting in a pile on my desk beside me. And my dog, who still demands that I give her belly-rubs everytime she glances in my direction. I actually think that dog has magical powers or something.

- - -

* * *

The two stayed close to each other as they made their way into the large room, and Maka couldn't help but to admire the beautiful scenery. She also couldn't deny one thing- Shinigami had it _good._

They reached the middle quickly enough- Shinigami's figure was clear in the bright light that the mysterious windows seemed to bring in, and the rest of the light seemed to seep in out of nowhere.

'Maka! Soul! Welcome!' He cried as they stood before him. He gestured towards two chairs that they both could have sworn weren't there before and told them to take a seat, so they did. Shinigami also sat down in a large hair in front of them that _definitely_ was not there before, and waved his hand.

'Okay, okay, start from the beginning- I want to hear all the details. How did the two of you first meet?' He asked, and they glanced at each other, trying to figure out who should speak first. Maka cleared her throat awkwardly.

'W-well, I've always had trouble sleeping, so I often wake up in the middle of the night, and can't fall asleep again. In this case, it was about 1:30 AM I think, and my window was broken so it wouldn't close. And it was _really_ cold outside. So I thought I should go and get Sam, the manager of the apartments, to come fix it before my whole place was freezing cold.

'But when I got outside, I...' She trailed off, looking at Soul again, who was watching her silently, his chin resting on his clasped hands. She looked troubled, so he nodded at her for her to continue, and she started where she had stopped off.

'I heard someone playing the piano. I didn't know who it was, but I really liked it- I'd never heard anything like it before in my whole life. So I sat down and listened. And the strangest thing happened- I fell asleep.

'But before that...' She took a deep breath. 'I'm sure that soul resonance occurred.' Shinigami nodded, so she continued once again, confused as to what had her feeling so nervous.

'Never in my whole life have I ever fallen asleep after waking up in the night. But when I finally arose the next morning, someone's coat was on me- And I still had no clue who it was. The initials said S.E., and after I found them, I became bent on finding out who it was- b-but only to give the coat back.' She hurriedly added, her hands waving in front of her. Soul suppressed a laugh.

'Anyway, to find out, I needed a list of all the tenants... So I tricked Sam and wrote down the two people who fit the description- male, with the initals of S.E. The first house I visited was to Siege Everall- we went out for lunch and I described to him what happened. When Sige ran into a resteraunt in search of a restroom, I sat on a bench and waited for him to return- And then I saw Soul crossing the street.' A blush arose on her cheeks as she remembered how she had chased him. She turned to soul, silently asking him to tell the next part.

'When I spotted Maka -or the girl who had heard me play the previous night- I panicked and ran. I don't really know why, but I wasn't exactly ready to face her yet. So I made a break for it. It wasn't until later that we met again.' Maka was relieved he hadn't mentioned their chase- but she guessed it was unnescessary. And it always seemed like Soul could read her mind anyway. He kept on speaking.

'After that, it was late evening when I heard a knock on my door. I tried to ignore it, but she wasn't letting up, so I finally opened the door.' He smiled softly at the memory. Once again, she turned a little redder.

'I tried to scare her away- but she wouldn't leave. So I let her in and we talked, but then we got in a fight and she left.' It scared Maka how much information he was omitting from the story, but maybe it was all unimportant after all. She wasn't about to say anything. It was embarrassing, how easily they fought.

'She came back later that night- she even asked me to play for her. We talked things out again, and everything was cool. Maka and I both crashed on the couch, and the next morning when I went to grab my mail I saw Siege, who asked me if I had seen Maka. I told him what happened, and he offered to come over to help with breakfast.

'We all ate, but we argued again, and I walked out.' He shook his head, not liking the memories arising from it. 'And it started to rain. And I mean _REALLY_ rain. A couple hours later I see Maka rushing at me, but before she makes it, she faints. Honestly, who would randomly run out into a storm like that in shorts and a T-shirt!' He exclaimed, looking at Maka, who looked at the ground towards her shuffling feet.

'But anyways, Siege and I called Tsubaki and a doctor, and he explained that she had pneumonia. That's why we weren't at school on monday.' Shinigami cut in.

'No, that's why she wasn't at school on Monday. Why weren't you here?'

'Because I didn't want to leave her!' He told him exasperatedly before continuing.

'So she recovered, and then the next day we tried to go to school but there was a lot of trouble that complicated things and the taxi driver hated us. Maka didn't want to be late, but then we were... uh, attacked,' Soul burst out laughing, so a flushed Maka started off in his place,

'And then I got lost and met Black Star. Soul caught up to us, catching Black Star just before he smashed his head for being an idiot-' Maka grumbled something about how all the boys she knew were so reckless, but was under control before taking off again,

'... And then we all got ice cream because there was only a few minutes of school left anyway.

'Siege, Black Star, Tsubaki, Maka and I all went over to Black Star's place and fell asleep watching movies, and then next morning...' He glanced at Maka and she cleared her throat.

'...It happened again. Soul resonance. We're pretty sure it occurs if our emotiosn are too in sync, or if we're just too physically close, because I was sitting beside Soul...' She lied. Soul didn't contradict her.

'And then we came here, and you know the rest.' She finished, glancing at the light bruise on Soul's jaw before shaking her head. Shinigami was silent for a moment before he started.

'Okay, this is what I think we should do: I guess it's understood that you two wouldlike to be partners, no?' He asked and they looked at each other before nodding.

'Good. And you're pretty advanced to be performing soul resonance already. So I'm going to transfer you into the more advanced class with Sid.'

Maka and Soul exchanged bewildered glances with each other- that class was very difficult and wasn't supposed to be taken by either of them at that age- not until at least a year into their training. But Shinigami interrupted their shocked exchanged as he continued.

'Maka, you've always been at the top of the class and I'm confident you can handle this. Soul, as for you, you're one of the more advanced students in your current class when it comes to combat- I hope Maka can keep you from making any mistakes, or at least keep you out of trouble.' Soul smiled weakly and Maka stared at Shinigami blankly before speaking.

'So... We're skipping a grade, sort of?' She asked, hope entering her voice.

'Yes.' Shinigami answered, hands lacing together on his lap.

'... Any chance my mother ever did that?'

'...No, I don't remember her doing anything or that sort, although she was always very-' He was cut off by Maka's unbridled cheer of sheer joy, and Soul stared at her, completely bewildered, as if he had never seen her before in his life.

'Yes, yes, yes! Not even _she_ skipped an entire _grade!_' She laughed merrily as Soul inched himself away from her. 'I'll be the best tech you've ever seen! Better than _her! Even better than HER!'_ Shinigami cleared his throat, but it didn't seem to register with her and she continued to jump up and down, eyes sparkling as she ranted. Her cleared it ever louder and more obvious; again, no response.

'SHINIGAMI CHOP!' He roared, and Soul collpased on the ground, rubbing his head. Maka stopped dancing.

'Why'd you hit _me,_ you stupid old man!' He groaned, and Maka gasped at the lack of respect. Shinigami seemed pleased, though.

'It got Maka's attention well enough.' He explained, and then suddenly turned to his right, where someone was quickly approaching. Soul and Maka rapidly took in the dark clothes, golden, cat-like eyes and uneven black and white hair before he spoke.

'This is my son, Death the Kid. He's already in the class I'd like to transfer you into, buuuuuut-' Shinigami seemed to glower at the teen, 'He's notorious for skipping classes.' Kid leaned back, staring boredly at the windows above them.

'As if I even need to go! They're all so far behind me I can hardly see them.' He moaned, and Soul looked at him curiously before speaking directly to him, as Maka stared at him in awe. _Shinigami's son!_

'S'wrong with your hair?'

Immediately Kid swayed, and two unfamiliar forms suddenly burst into life beside him as he recognized their species as scythes- but two of them? It was quite rare for someone to have to weapons.

'_WHY? Why did I have to be cursed with such an aweful abomination! Oh, how I wish that hair dye would take effect on this horrible eyesore!' _He wailed as Maka and Soul stared on in astonishment. The two girls that had flashed into existance rushed to his side as he punched the ground in frustration.

They looked quite similiar, and Maka made a note to ask them if they were related to each other after this, although one was taller and had much longer hair than the other- she could be taken for about a year or two older than the other.

The younger of the two collapsed on the ground, laughing uncontrollably as she slapped her knee with a wide grin on her heart-shaped face.

'Aha, he _really_ did it this time! Haha!' She laughed, as the taller girl knelt beside him and attempted to comfort him. The scene was one neither of them had ever experienced before and it resulted in their shock quickly fading into amusement as they grabbed their sides to try and ward off the incoming pangs of pain from the force of the laughing.

Shinigami threw a hand over his face.

And _these five _had skipped grades?

* * *

- - -

**A/N: **Sing for me, my lovely reviewers! Click that button and tell me how I totally wasn't supposed to bring Death The Kid into this story since they didn't know him until a few chapters after the manga started T.T But mostly, review and tell me HOW MUCH OF A LAZY BUM I AM FOR NOT UPDATING SOONER. I love you guys! -sob-

_Peace out,_

+Ma-chan!


	24. Into The Fire

**A/N: **Sorry it's sort of short, but don't blame me! Blame the Ma-chan from December, the one who wrote this chapter. The latest ones come up at around thirty-three, although I had to rewrite a few before that too. You are rapidly approaching them, anyways, so who cares.

Everyone, some crazy shiz goes down in the next few chapters- that means the story has been sort of light and easy to digest, with fluff in places. From this point onward it's about to get a lot more intense, and the fluff will still be there, just a little more down-played. Prepare yourselves. I've been getting you guys ready for these ones for a long time now. Chapter twenty-four! Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** If I could buy a TV series, it most certainly wouldn't be Soul Eater. It would be the Smurfs. But I cannot, and therefor bare no rights to this awesomesauce anime. Woe.

---

* * *

In the end, Death The Kid didn't end up accompanying them to the classroom- Kid quickly claimed he was sick and walked non-nonchalant out of the room. They followed him into the hallway, but by the time they got there, he was gone. Instead, it was the newly introduced Liz and Patty who guided them there.

They stopped in front of a large cherrywood door. It was beautiful, and perfectly polished to the point where there wasn't a single scratch.

'Who fixes these?' Maka questioned curiously, and Liz's face darkened.

'Ah... That'd be Kid.' Soul and Maka stared at them blankly, and Patty starting laughing as she explained.

'He comes in there a lot, so when he sees that a scratch is unbalancing the symmetry, he freaks out and searches the building for polish! That thing has to have at least thirty layers of it on there now.' Maka giggled, and Soul flipped out a key and made a tiny mark in the corner, whistling innocently when Maka turned to see what the noise was.

'Are you guys ready?' Liz asked rhetorically, and Maka laughed sarcastically.

'Do we look ready?'

'...No.'

And then she opened the door, and the entire class turned to see who the newcomers were. A few of them stiffened, a few hisses were heard, and even outright snarls of rage. some of the people cracked nervous smiles, but one person went as far as to throw a pencil. Liz caught it with her eyes closed, snapped it in two easily between her middle finger and thumb, and tossed it in a small trash can beside Sid's desk.

Her voice rang out clear and sternly. It was obvious by the way the class fell silent that they respected the Thompson sister; even feared her in a few ways.

'Alright guys, listen up!' She yelled to make sure everyone heard. 'We have two new students from the beginner class. They're joining you here because they're too advanced to stay in their previous class, so please treat them with the same respect you might Patty or I.' Someone snorted in the back.

'Please welcome Miss Maka Barns, and her partner, Soul Eater Evans!' One person stood up from the back row, walking down the middle stairs and turning to walk out the door, glaring hostilely in Soul's direction before turning back and walking angrily out of the classroom. Patty eyed the student with disapproval.

'Soul... Am I missing something here? God, why does everyone hate you in this class?' He just shook his head, still watching the class. Sid turned to his two new students, his chocolate skin reflecting the light from his bare, muscled arms nicely.

'Well, introductions have been made, although I'd like you two to introduce yourselves personally. Just tell us about yourself a little. Maka, you can go first.' She froze, and felt Soul's familiar touch on her shoulder, looking up to see his encouraging red eyes seemingly unbothered by the fuss. He gave her a slight nudge, and she shook her head out of the daze it was settling into before walking out into the middle of the room, shuffling her feet anxiously. Many of these people were older than her, so she was very nervous. Plus, she wasn't half as good at speaking in large crowds than she was at lying. And she wasn't that great at lying.

'...Uhm, hello, I'm Maka. I, uh, live in Shibusen apartments, and I don't have any pets... I like reading, and, um, writing, and hot chocolate and sunny days... My parents are split up... I hope I can work well with everyone. Please treat my partner and I kindly.'

She finished, dipping her head, not out of submission but to cover up the blush that had turned her face crimson. She rushed back over to where Soul was, seeking his reassurance. He nodded with a faint smile, and she let out the breath she had been holding, trying not to let it show how shaken she was.

'You did fine,' He told her, poking her in the back teasingly, and she tried and failed at stifling a laugh. Yeah, _right..._

'Soul?' Sid summoned him, and suddenly there was a change in his appearance. She stared up at the unfamiliar expression on his face, staring after him in mild astonishment, which sky-rocketed when he began to speak. He walked confidently into the middle of the room, his black coat hanging low behind him before he stopped, his hands resting carelessly in his pockets. He looked up into the crowd with the red eyes in full force, and there were a few gasps from people unprepared from the change of attitude. Even his voice surprised Maka. It was like a whole different person.

'Hello,' He greeted, smiling, 'I'd prefer you call me Soul, but anything is fine. I'm really not that advanced at all, just lucky to find a partner willing to be my tech. I don't really have any hobbies...' Maka was smiling, but it faded. She remembered how angry he had gotten when she suggested he might play his piano in front of Siege- so why was she surprised when he didn't mention it now?

'-live in Shibusen apartments a few doors down from Maka. I hope we all get along during the next year-' He grinned charmingly, and a few girls in the front actually _blushed_. Maka nearly let her mouth hang open. Who was this person who resembled Soul and radiated confidence?

'-'Kay?'

'-Mmmkay.' Someone in the crowd purred, and both the tech and weapon looked up before shock shattered Maka's resolve. It was the girl. The girl from the day before- With the taxi. The girl who kissed Soul.

A few other boys stared up at her incredulously at her warm, inviting tone before turning back to glare at Soul in full force. A few of the girls glared up at the girl as well.

'Luvvy!' A female voice spoke up in a hushed tone, grabbing her arm. 'You don't want to get involved with him! He's _dangerous!'_ She hissed, and Soul watched, unblinking. Maka took a moment to look at the girl from the previous day's appearance in more detail. She had been too angry the first time they met to conduct a real sizing-up.

The tall girl's glossy black hair hung thinly and cut off just before her shoulders, straightened to perfection. Her facial features were also beautifully refined, high cheek bones hidden under flawless porcelain skin. Her pointed chin was resting on the backs of her long hands, which were clasped together, revealing manicured fingernails that were indeed real. Above, her soft pink lips were curved in a pleased, surprisingly elegant smirk, and the enticing narrowed brown eyes showed nothing but pleasant surprise. She licked her lips, but ti didn't seem to smear the shimmer of the lip gloss lying over them.

'Aha, silly Sakura. I thought you knew me; I like a little _danger._'

---

* * *

**A/N: **Don't you just want to smack her? xD Even I don't like her, and she's my own OC lol. Don't worry, she's not a main character or anything, she's just nescessary in these few chapters to set the gears in motion. The chapters explaining Soul's past are coming up real quick, I think they begin at twenty-eight and go on to thirty-two or soemthing like that. Agh, so much work. I'm failing science, you know. But that's sort of kind of because it's in Fench, and Ican't understand half the stuff my teacher says -.-

Thanks for the reviews! Although it was less than usual, I still appreciate them. Care to repeat the process? It gives me inspiration to write more ;3

_Peace out,_

+Ma-chan!


	25. Dealing With Lova

I review the stories I read. _Do you?_  


* * *

**Chapter 25**

The raven-haired girl winked at Soul, but his face betrayed no emotion. Maka was the only one to notice the faint movement in his cheeks; Soul was grinding his teeth beneath his calm facade. Yet tthe crimson eyes told of no conflict, an entire different story from his outer appearance. Just soft, fake surprise hung over him.

'Eh? You two are acquainted?' Sid called, and Soul glanced at him, blinking owlishly.

'I don't remember.' He lied convincingly, and Sid stared. Of all the students in his class, he had never for a second forgotten about this girl. Maka once again resisted the urge to let her jaw drop and stare in utter confusion and shock at the scene unfolding before her.

There were a few angry retorts from the crowd at the girl ever being overlooked in anyone's mind, but it had the opposite effect on her. She laughed- a pretty, happy sound, but not in the least bit childish, the opposite of the worried looking girls expression beside her that was currently at work on tugging on her sleeve.

'Liar.' She accused playfully, and Soul ignored her, waiting for Sid to instruct them on what to do.

'Well, there is an empty seat near her if you'd like to sit near her.' Sid explained, and Maka inwardly cussed. They were trapped. Obviously neither of them wanted to be anywhere near the overly friendly girl (emphasis on the _overly_ part), but if they wanted to keep up their poker face of careful nonchalance, they couldn't say no. And it seemed she knew this, judging by the fact that her smirk got considerably bigger.

So instead of screaming and launching a few erasers at the girl, Soul replied in an expressionless tone,

'Sure.'

Sid nodded as Liz and Patty took their proper places in the class, and they followed their new teacher up to two seats side-by-side in the second-to-last row- right in front of the girl. When Sid was back down and began explaining their assignment for the day, Maka jotted down some notes before turning around to spot the girl beside her, who had been tugging on her arm.

This girl was the opposite of the black-haired girl in nearly every way except that she was really pretty- but not in the exotic, stunning quality of the girl next to her. She had a childish innocence about her heart-shaped face, and her skin was tastefully tanned to the point of perfect. Her hair hung down to the bottom of her shoulder blades, in a thick, voluminous fashion that managed to set the light on the pale green curls. Maka felt as if they could have been blue if you looked at them from a different angle, but the curly jade locks were unmistakable, and stood out among her breath-taking light pink eyes. She looked like a princess next to the dark-haired beauty that was the queen.

Did that make Soul the king?

She clenched her teeth. He didn't like her anyways. And she wasn't jealous. she just didn't think of Soul like that, no matter how many times they'd managed to save each other, one way or another... Her frown deepened before she heard the familiar purr from the girl above her. Soul and Maka turned to look at her, and she smiled at them throw the carefully slanted brown eyes, a devious smile lying lazily on her lips.

'So you're Maka... And you're _Soul..._ Fitting.' She mused as Soul stared at her boredly. The way she said his name somehow managed to get Maka even angrier, so she turned back to face the teacher, glaring.

'Ah, I forgot! I'm Lova, but everyone just calls me _Luv.'_ Soul leaned back in his chair, hardly seeming to be listening to her while she spoke, and his head dropped down so he was looking at the childish girl beside her upside down.

'And you are?' He addressed her, already knowing the answer but seeking proper introduction. She cringed away.

'Keep away from me and Luvvy, demon!' She hissed out, and Soul shrugged, seeming to care less.

'Whatever you say.' He sighed, and as soon as he closed his eyes again, she seemed to relax. Lova tugged on her arm. 'Have a little more respect, Sakura! He's your senpai, after all. Sakura skipped two grades to become my partner in this class.' She looked over at Soul, completely ignoring Maka beside him. He didn't move.

Maka wasn't one to miss the twitch of Soul's hand when he heard her say _demon_ though. She seemed to miss less and less as she spent more time with him. Concern made her want to reach out to him, but she refrained from it. It would only cause problems, and he wouldn't let his guard down with so many people around anway. So _this_ was his outer character.

Naturally, the day in the park, Maka had no clue that Soul was probably thinking in an entirely different way than she thought as he laughed and smiled. She had begun to think maybe after his few days with them, he was starting to open up, but then she realized it would be a _long_ time before that would happen. Years of psychological abuse couldn't be fixed so easily.

He was receiving dirty looks from nearly all the boys in a ten meter radius, but continued to feign sleep. At least then he'd have a good reason for not answering her when she asked him a question. He didn't exactly hate Lova- He just had no idea how to deal with someone like that, especially when she did impulsive things like kiss random guys she picked up on the street. But he was proud of himself for keeping his cool for so long; years ago, Soul would have been raging at her by now for completely alienating him from his new class, or 'fresh start' he'd wanted to believe, on only his first day.

Maka tapped her pencil on the desk in front of her, and Lova reached forward to place a hand Maka's shoulder.

'Stop that- It's annoying.' She conveyed, and Soul twitched from where he was supposedly sleeping. Sakura stared at her, mouth open. 'L-Luvvy, don't be so bold! Next time that happens, ask me to take care of it for you!' She stressed, looking troubled, but Luv just gave her a smile.

'Don't be silly Saky, I don't need someone to do something trivial like _that_ for me.' She laughed quietly, but a knowing look was shot in Maka's direction. By indirectly insulting her, she'd noticed Soul's reaction and found a weakness: Maka.

Class ended, and Maka went along with the act to wake Soul up, who looked up wearily. 'Ah, it ended?' He asked drowsily, wiping drool from the side of his lips, and Maka laughed.

'But you know what the homework is?' She asked more quietly, and Soul grinned as he got up, and they shared a knowing look before walking over to the doorway. To both their surprise though, Lova stood in the way, Sakura nowhere in sight.

'Oh, could I talk to Maka for a second? I wasn't really paying attention in class, so I don't know how we're supposed to do today's assignment.' She told them in barely concealed contempt. Soul froze, glanced quickly at Maka and then spoke up,

'I'll tell you what you need to know.' Maka looked at him in relief. She had no clue what the black-haired girl was up to, and she wouldn't do anything smart around Soul anyway. Luv put a finger to her lips and glanced up at the board.

'But Soul, how would you know what to do? I thought you were asleep.' Both of their eyes widened, and Lova resisted the urge to grin in triumph. She had him right where she wanted- well, almost.

'F-fine.' Maka said, and Soul stared at her incredulously before slowly nodding. 'I'll wait for you outside.' he stated and walked off, glancing over his shoulder just before disappearing behind the other side of the wall. When the door finally closed behind him, she rushed over, and turned the knob until she heard a small _click_, signifying that it was indeed locked.

Lova's facade changed quickly into one of convincing cheerfulness, and Maka didn't feel so scared at that. Lova's next question shattered her confidence within seconds though.

'Hey, Maka...'

* * *

**A/N**: Well, I realized that I only really need one AN, especially with such short chapters. I make up for their length though, since there's so many of them. Next chapter is Lova's last appearance (Same with Sakura) so you don't have to worry about her much after this. Anyways, how dooes everyone feel about the cliffie? If you give me a nice review, I might tell you the question she asked... Maybe. Soul's past begins to unravel in twenty-eight or twenty-nine, something like that. Quite a few chapters, actually, so you can look forward to that one.

Thank you for everyone's lovely support! Although I think I only got around eleven or twelve reviews around that time rather than the usual eighteen :o Please continue the feeback! Even if you don't say too much. I think it's really rude that some authors get mad at people who just say "update soon" or "great chapter". They've taken the time to say _something, _and that's all that matters anyways. People who read and then diseappear from existence, on the other hand... I still don't approve of that. I try to review fics that I read, even though most of them are read on my iPod Touch. It's hard to type on that thing!

Lova's name means promise, by the way, in Dutch or Swedish or something like that, I can't remember. I looked it up sometime in December anyway. Wow, six months ago! That's a long time. I'm glad to see these chapters are riddled with mistakes- it shows I've improved :)

Reviews will be used to strangle the two OC's of this chapter. Although I don't mind Sakura as much as Luv.

**Disclaimer: **Like hell I own it.


	26. Difference

Did you review last chapter? I see you there!

* * *

**Chapter 26**

"Hey, Maka... Wanna switch partners?"

Silence reigned over both girls, with one holding an air of impatience and the other of complete disbelief. After a minute Lova sighed annoyedly, waving a hand to catch the girls attention.

"Maka?" She called, fake concern lacing her voice. Of course, it was certainly convincing enough, but after being around Soul so much, you could call it a new skill she had developed. In actuality, it was only the shock kept her from getting angry. Of course Maka certainly didn't like the girl, and obviously the feeling was mutual, but to say something like _that?_ It was mind-blowing.

_Switch partners?_

The prospect scared her. Literally, she felt her stomach twisting in a painful knot. If she abandoned Soul, there would be nobody there to understand him. This girl actually thought she could handle being his partner. It was obvious that it wasn't happening; it was their choice, after all, but the idea had been placed in her head, and now her imagination was running wild.

_What a joke,_ she thought with an inner laugh as waves of an unfamiliar emotion sweeped through her, and she clenched her teeth, the laugh attack worsening. She felt a strange presence, and this faint sort of feeling... Just like _knowing._ She didn't know how else to describe it. _That's what it is. Just a joke. She's joking._

But when she looked back at Luv, she looked perfectly serious, if not a little frustrated at the blonde's long suffocating silence. Maka let the silent laugh suddenly escape from her lips, and Lova took a step back from the dark sound. You couldn't see Maka's face- her bangs hung loosely and trembled each time her body shook with another giggle. She'd bowed her head and started laughing.

'_A joke!_' Maka grinned, but there was definitely something different about her. She stood up, advancing on Lova in a few quick strides. A flash of fear actually entered the brown eyes before she took a step forward, meeting Maka face to face, their noses inches from clashing. Maka laughed once more; again, it sounded twisted and wrong.

Lova took a step back, no liking to idea of backing down but understanding that the blonde in front of her was not the one she'd been talking to a few minutes before.

Maka stared right at her, laughing in her face, clutching her sides. It looked like she had gone... insane.

_"__You can't take her! Not again!" _Maka spurred, gasping. '_You can't take her away from me! She's mine! You can't have her! Not again! You don't even know me!' _She hissed in the sadistic voice that hardly sounded like her own. She had no idea that Maka was able to even physically master this type of... Imitation. Unless, of course...

It wasn't imitation.

The crazy laughs continued, and Maka stopped, and starting humming a little tune, laughing. Lova winced each time the eyes opened; The green eyes seemed scarily different from their usual soft understanding they held when she listened intently in class. The girl in front of her wasn't even making sense anymore. She had no clue what she was talking about.

_"You don't even know me!" _She laughed suddenly, turning to face Luv. She was surprised by the ferocity behind the voice._"She's mine! They took her, and now you want to take her again! You don't know anything about me! A joke! It's a joke!"_

She screeched maniacly, and suddenly the maple doors slid down, sliced in half. The red and black scythe that was Soul's former arm suddenly flashed into the black sleeve that covered it once again, and he was looking around frantically, blinking constantly. He stumbled; It occurred to Lova that he probably heard the whole conversation. The walls weren't all that thick.

Wiping his forehead, his eyes were already reddening, and suddenly a pang of real fear hit Luv's stomach. She took another step back as Soul rushed over to where Maka was laughing manically, and shook her.

"Maka!" He ground out. "Maka, it's not you! Wake up, Maka! You're Maka Albarn-"

Her laughing stopped and Maka slumped over into Soul's arms, her eyes blank. She stirred, and pushed herself up to her feet, shaking her head. The ground seemed to stop shaking, but the unsettling sudden silence of the room was taking over as Maka blinked, glancing around the room until she met unfocused Soul's eyes.

Maka whimpered, taking a few steps back for every step Soul took forward, and she shook her head when he reached out, her hands clutched to her chest.

"W-what was that?" She murmured, not looking at him, and he went rigid for a second. Maka continued. "Was that really you?" His eyes were pleading, but he wouldn't answer.

"Maka..."

"Don't try to avoiding the question!" She shouted, and one of the lamps attached to the wall hit the ground with a loud crash as glass hit the floor, causing Maka to wince.

"I-I'm not-"

'_Was that you, Soul Eater Evans!' _ She raged, and Lova glanced from one to the other before making a decision darting out of the room. Neither of the classroom's other occupants made a move to stop her; they didn't so much as glance in her direction. Maka panted, her breath coming out in short huffs. Soul just stared at her helplessly before looking away again.

"I think... it might've." He told her, and she put a hand over her mouth. "Yeah... that... that was me." Maka spun around and shot out of the room just as three of the faculty marched in accompanied by Lova. She looked over at Soul again, slouching and staring at the marble floor before turning away.

_What just happened?_

xxx

Maka ran from the room, anger and even slight nervousness playing in her chest. She made her way into Shinigami's room for the second time that day, ignoring the towering blades that roofed the small hall into the office before she came to a stop. Shinigami suddenly walked up from behind her, and she spun around, seething.

"What is it, Maka?" He asked calmy, as he always did, and she looked up at him, not disguising her anger, but keeping it at bay for enough time to be able to convey to him while keeping her voice as respectful as possible,

"Yet you know already, don't you?"

It was true; Shinigami always managed to know exactly what was going on in the school at all times, for some strange reason. Nobody was quite sure how he did it. He sighed, turning towards two chairs that had once again appeared in the room, and gestured for her to take a seat. She did.

"Maka... I'm sure you're extremely confused at this moment." He asked, and she glowered at him, sharp green cutting into the round black ones.

"Confused? That was crazy! You saw that- he even admitted-" But now the black-clad administrator was shaking his head, understanding her fury but also knowing the fear she was harboring beneath it. Maka Albarn was terrified, and so she should be. What had happened in Sid's room was not of ordinary occurrence.

"First of all," he cut her off, "before I can explain to your what it was that just happened... you're going to have to know a few things about Soul." Maka's mouth opened and she managed to get out,

"I know already- his family was-" Shinigami spoke once more, causing her to break off. He raised his hand.

'His family was killed in one night- but that's not everything, is it?' Shinigami was phrasing it as another question, but it was clear that the man wa making a statement. She stared at him blankly, not understanding. That wasn't all? He let out another deep breath.

"Alright Maka, let me start from the beginning."

* * *

**A/N: **Well, if everyone is crazy confused over what just happened, good, that means I've done my job. Things will be explained over the next few chapters; here's also where we're going to hit all the explanitory flashbacks! Squee! You also might've noticed the " instead of '. I sort of switch between them every few years just to change it up. I don't know why, I just do. But you'll be seeing " more now, since all the latest chapters in the forties are typed with them.

Bahahaha. I think we're basically done with Lova and Sakura now. Hope you enjoyed their plot-assisting appearance, I'll try to get pictures of them up on my deviantart as soon as possible. I'm maads on there if you were wondering; you can find a link on my profile. Anyway, thanks for all the reviews! I loved them all C:

And did everyone read Soul Eater's latest chapter? It was kickass, am I right? Man, I almost found myself a KidxMaka fan right there! Jk, jk. It was cute though, I liked the parts with Soul and Maka at the beginning too. Very cute.

**Disclaimer: **_"disclaimer_ n. A repudiation or denial of responsibility or connection. Law. A renunciation of one's right or claim." So there. I don't own it! Get these lawers out of my house already! -grabs a lawer and throws it at a tree-


	27. Reason, Pt 1

"Great chapter!" Is all I ask of you.

* * *

"It all started back when Soul was sent to that orphanage, after his family died. When he first came out of the hospital, he was immediately taken into custody by the police for questioning. The government decided to allow it because of the probability that he had been the one to commit the crime- his injuries could have been caused by a struggle, after all. It just seemed so far-fetched for the boy to have survived with minor injuries, while every other person in the entire household had been slaughtered.

"They held him in questioning for three long days before he was then transferred to the orphanage. For his past, and since many people still believed he was the one who comitted the crime, he was mostly alone through this time, and the first six months were not good to him."

Maka could tell he was softening the story- and although she was slightly peeved that Shinigami didn't think she could handle it, it faded when she realized that if that was the case he wouldn't be telling her at all. He was just trying to spare her feelings.

"And then on July 9th, a girl was transferred into the orphanage. She looked like you, Maka- blonde hair, green eyes. But her hair was longer, and her eyes were quite a bit lighter, so it would be easy to distinguish you two from each other. Despite this, however, there's quite the possibility that he might see her in you a little, so be careful what you say around him.

"He had earned a nickname around the orphanage- Time Bomb. Many people thought that at some point he would just snap and go on a rampage- until Mia showed up. She saw him on her third day there, sitting in the corner of the room tracing his name into the cement below him, and approached him with a smile..."

xxx

"_Hi!" The blonde girl chirped, smiling down at him with no visible malice on her pretty features. He stared at her in surprise- no one would ever come near him unless it was to insult him, or take something from him. He'd been attacked on a few rare occasions, although the other kids weren't usually so forward with their bullying. Eating his share of lunch, hiding his things, the more subtle actions. Although he naturally didn't like it, it was better than actually fist-to-fist fighting. He got more harsh punishments if he ever fought back anyways, and there was also the fact that Soul didn't like fighting, especially against girls._

_'H-huh?' He stammered at the friendly gesture, and she giggled. _

"_Can I sit down?" _

_He nodded, still in shock, and stared at her while she looked at the stick he had been playing with. Taking it out of his fingers, she traced her name right beside it, and he read it aloud._

"_...Mia?" He asked, and she nodded enthusiastically._

"_Yep, that's me! And you?" The slight hopefulness disappeared when she asked for his name- when she heard it, no doubt she would go running from the room. It was clear now- she must not have recognized him, or had merely never heard what he looked like. To most, the white hair and red eyes were hard to miss, but it happened on occasion, and it had given him a nasty shock when another orphan had cheerfully asked for his name and upon hearing it recoiled viciously. No need to have history repeat itself. _

_She blinked at him, still waiting for an answer. And after a long breath, he answered,_

"_Soul Eater." She frowned, and he shut his eyes, bracing himself for the gasp and the sound of frantic feet as they faded into the distance while she ran, but none came. When he opened his eyes again, she looked thoughtful._

"_Soul Eater? That's such a menacing name! Could I call you just Soul?" He nodded his head, completely astonished now._

"_W-what?'"Came the taken aback reply, his red eyes wide. She winced, as he expected. _

"_Wow, you do have red eyes! I didn't believe the other kids at first. They're kinda creepy." He slumped down, not blaming her one bit. The Evans family carried that tendency for red eyes, and although it wasn't incredibly common in their family, there were a few member who'd had them. He wished he could've gotten green ones like his sister, or Mia._

"I wish I had red eyes." She told him sadly. Soul was sure he'd heard wrong. But it was obvious when she carried on that that's exactly was had came out of her mouth.

"It'd be cool- you could scare people away and be super unique. Hey! Maybe you have superpowers or something, Soul!" She gaped at him. "Try and light this stick on fire without touching it!"

_He stumbled through the demand, still not believing what he was hearing. She was _talking _to him. Like he was a normal person or something. And as she laughed when he told her what he oculd probably do it if he had a match or something, the last thought that came to him was that he was definitely gonna regret this._

_And then the bell rang for the children to get into bed, and Mia waved before disappearing into the girls dormitory._

x x x

"After that, the two became great friends. Mia and Soul didn't play with the other kids much, but they still welcomed Mia if she ever wanted to join them again. She found Soul much more interesting, and one day, came across him playing the piano."

Shinigami continued as Maka drank it all in. Why couldn't he tell her something like this? Mia was sounding nicer and nicer by the second.

x x x

_Everyone hated it. He shouldn't have been surprised, but, of course, he had been. Not that he thought they would have liked it, but it still hurt all the same. Everyone left the room as soon as the director of the orphanage came in. She wasn't a mean lady- she'd never abused any of the children in the orphanage, and seemed to genuinely care for them. _

_Except me,_ he thought miserably_, she doesn't care about me._

_But he was running too fast to stop in time when he spotted Mia, dressed in her long blue night gown walking down the hallway, rubbing sleep from her eyes, so naturally, he crashed into her head-on. They both slammed against the concrete floor and after a moment Mia sat up, one hand feeling her head._

"_Owowowowow!" She whined, wincing when she touched the bump. Soul copied her movements silently. When he saw her pained expression, though empathy kicked in and he forgot all about his own bruising forehead._

"_Mia!" He exclaimed, crawling over to where she was. '"I'm sorry!"_

_She glanced at him and he flinched when she reached out and grabbed his hand to help herself up, but his grip was tighter than she would have imagined. It hurt her hand._

"_Soul...?" She called tiredly, yawning, and he nodded, relieved she was okay. These kinds of things led to concussions and those could be serious- he'd heard stories about people who hit their head and didn't even notice they were injured until they dropped dead a few hours later- she could have a blood clot, or a fractured skull, or a stomach ache, or, or..._

_ He simply didn't know what he'd do if anything happened to her, too._

"_How come your up running so fast at this hour? I woke up when I heard all the noise. Did something happen?"_

_His heart clenched painfully in his chest; he really didn't want to tell her. It was hard enough facing rejection from people who hated him, but from the only person who would ever even talk to him? _

_No, he couldn't tell her. She'd find out sooner or later, but not from him. So he merely shook his head, and was surprised when one small hand reached out and caught a tear he hadn't noticed slip off his face on the tip of her finger._

"_Then why are you crying?"_

x x x

"Naturally, it got out that Soul had spotted a piano and decided to play it- he'd played back when he was still living with his family, but since December the nineteenth, he hadn't so much as touched the instrument."

"After that, Mia wouldn't stop bothering Soul about what his problem was when it came to piano- and she was desperate to hear him play. Every time she asked him though, he told her no. Not a single time would he let her hear him play.

"Soul had had an older brother and sister, and same as everyone in the Evans home that night, they were killed in the massacre. But both of his elder siblings were engaged, his brother, Ryan Evans, to a girl from up north called Yvonne June, and his sister, Tressa Evans, to a very wealthy man- Seth Atterfeld.

"The two seemed to disappear completely off the map when the family was murdered, although a few days later, Soul received a visit from a familiar face."

x x x

"_Soul Eater Evans!" The director called. "Mr. Evans!"_

_Soul looked up in surprise. Was the director calling him? No, she couldn't be. What could she possibly want with him right now? It was visiting hours, where the other kids might have friends come in and say hello. He didn't have any friends, at least none that were still alive. He had been friends with some of the staff members that worked at the mansion, but even they had been killed that fateful night._

_Taking a deep breath, Soul marched over to where the director was waiting. She shot him a dirty look, as usual, before she ground out a quick, "Stay here." And then she shot down the hall, returning with a taller man walking beside her. Soul's mouth dropped open._

_The man was about 6"3, with toned skin and broad shoulders. His face was very neat, with not a hint of a stubble and impenetrable dark blue eyes, the opposite of Soul's ruby red ones. His features were rather feline, and he was dressed in a dark suit, the same way Soul had always remembered seeing him. His black hair was pinned back with a black clip behind his head, and then suddenly his mouth broke out into a grin._

_"...Seth!" Soul cried out, running forward when the man opened his arms to hug him.  
_

"Hey, buddy..." Seth called. Soul had always liked Seth, but he had never been particularly close to him, not as much as Ryan. That didn't matter right now though- he was here. Someone was here for him, anyone _was here_ for_ him. _For the moment, he was overjoyed.

x x x

"After that meeting, Seth began visiting Soul every day, and sometimes he would bring Mia with him. Seth liked Mia a lot too, and commented with a strange look in his eye that she had looked somewhat like Tressa, who had had similar eyes, but dark hair that had dropped to her shoulders. She had always kept it down too, also like Mia. Mia had simply smiled and blushed, and then Seth smiled kindly. No one would have guessed the events about to unfold around the seemingly happy man- he looked like the image of an overworked widower.

"When Seth asked if he could adopt Soul, the orphanage welcomed the idea with open arms, and the paperwork was done within a day. Yet Soul didn't want to leave Mia behind, so he asked if Seth would take her too. Mia had insisted it wasn't necessary, but they could both easily spot the hopeful yearning in her green eyes, so Seth filled to the paperwork for her as well and they returned together with him to his apartment in a mere two days."

"And then?" Maka called, and Shinigami shook his head at her hopeful tone.

"Don't misunderstand, Maka. The story won't start getting more fairytale-like from here, just because Soul had finally been adopted. It only goes downhill from here. This is _nothing_ like a nice, relaxing bedtime story- this story came straight from hell."

* * *

**A/N: **Hey. Watsup? So I've been planning the plot- also around chapter forty I've decided to double chapter length so as to shorten this story- it's become longer than I thought it would be. Some foreshadoing here, as well as the first few flashbacks. You'll notice everyone's attitude begin to change when they move in with Seth. I sort of imgagined him sort of hawkish, really sharp angled, you know? With like, not a hair out of place.

Anyway, thanks for all the reviews, seriously. Man I love you guys. I replied to a few, but I'm swamped since I'm involved with about two thousand other sites, and I've also been busy all week (cakes, inflatable pools, mo peds, and just general insanity) so I'm trying to make time to work things out. Closing in on four hundred reviews, too! Yay! This chapter is around 2k words, btw.

Shoutout to **Mink369 **for the plot planning around Mia in later chapters- just gonna shove that in here so I don't forget later. She's great, really.

**Disclaimer: **I owned it, but this small child had a cookie, so we traded. I think it was worth it... right? I don't own Soul Eater.


	28. Reason, Pt 2

Just so close to 400 reviews...!

* * *

_"Soul? Soul, are you okay?" Mia called to the red-eyed boy, who was staring in disbelief at the beautiful item placed tastefully in the corner of the room. The stunning structure was polished ebony, with not a single scratch the surface- Soul started the drool as he lost himself in the black instrument._

_"Ah, Soul! Now you can play a song without being scared of getting in trouble-" Mia started excitedly, but Soul had broken out of his daze at the word 'song' and rushed forward, throwing a hand over her mouth._

_"No way!" He shouted, and she stared at him, blinking, before he peeled his hand away from her mouth. She rubbed her jaw; it had hurt. He was stronger than he knew._

_"I'm sorry, but I can't. I-I forgot how to play." He lied, and she stared sarcastically at him._

_"Yeah, right." Mia countered, and he sighed._

_"Just drop it, 'kay?"_

_"No chance."_

xxx

"So they moved in, all three of them, then what happened?' Maka asked Shinigami eagerly, despite hearing Shinigami's warning. He sighed before continuing. He'd already warned her once, and if she wasn't going to listen, at least he'd done his part.

"Well, after that, for about three weeks, the three simply lived in the apartment. Neither of the children could be enrolled into any schools until the semester ended anyways, and then would come summertime, so they were home-schooled by Seth, who would teach them vigorously on weekends when he was off of his job to make up for their free weeks, since they just stayed home on weekdays while he was at work.

"But one day Mia was called in Seth's room, with no idea of what was coming next. What he told her in there shocked her- and the worst part is, she actually began to believe him."

xxx

_"Seth? You called me in here?" Mia greeted as she closed the door quietly behind her. Seth was sitting on the end of the bed, a grave look on his face, and he patted the unoccupied spot beside him, where she sat down and looked to him, waiting for an explanation. Seth sighed, and looked away._

_"I know you and Soul have known each other for quite a while, and have been through a lot together, but I just want you to be careful around him, alright?" He told her, nervousness entering his voice, to which Mia cocked an eyebrow._

_"Oh no, Seth, It's fine. Soul has gained lots of confidence since I first met him, there's no way I would ever purposely hurt his feelings, and he pays little attention to me when I tease him-" Seth cut her off._

_"No Mia, that's not what I mean. I don't want you to be careful around him for his sake... I want you to be careful around him for your own. You see, it was never confirmed that he didn't... that he wasn't the one to commit the crimes on December 19th, and in fact they had a large amount of evidence that he did. Just not enough to convince a judge he was guilty." Mia shook her head, catching his eye with an expression of anger visible on her face.  
_

_"Soul didn't do any of that stuff, he told me. He would never do anything like that. He's a really good person, and he'd never hurt a fly." She explained to him, and Seth shot her a sharp look._

_"Are you sure about that? All those times when a person would usually just nudge you gently, he seems to almost push you over. When anyone else would merely hold your hand, he squeezes it so hard you can't feel it afterward-'_

_"That proves nothing!" She said fiercely, but there was a tinge of doubt in her eyes._

_"Maybe so, but I just wanted to let you know. I don't want you getting hurt, Mia, for such a pointless cause. We can't know for sure that he isn't dangerous."_

_"Then why would you adopt him?" She asked accusingly, and he sighed again, looking away from the piercing green gaze. The tall, dark-haired man was the picture of an over-worked single dad, and in a way, that's exactly what he was. The man looked distinctly tired.  
_

_"I'm hoping that he might change for the better. I knew Soul, he wasn't always a bad kid. But Ryan was really rough with him, and the servants all hated him to the core. Even Tressa would get frustrated with him from time to time. It's just... after the 19th... we're all we have left for each other." _

_Mia inspected her feet, but kept silent. He knew she was beginning to doubt her relationship with Soul as a healthy one- yet Seth just waved his hand, trying to calm the tense atmosphere that had settled between the too.  
_

_"Anyways, Mia, I just want you to watch out for yourself. Please, all I'm asking is that you be more cautious."_

_She nodded solemnly as he reached out and opened the door to let her out. Mia didn't even look at him when he shut it behind him and collapsed on his bed, grinning. It was a twisted, sadistic smile, and the tall man went so far as to cough out a laugh. She had believed it all so easily, and now it was just a matter of time until the next phase of his plan would be put into action._

_"Don't worry Tressa, I'll avenge your death."_

xxx

Maka gasped in horror, placing her hands over her mouth and regarding the storyteller with wide green eyes.

"It was a set-up?"

She asked in a whisper, and Shinigami nodded silently. He knew someone needed to tell her the entire tale, but he wished it didn't have to be him. It wasn't exactly pleasant to explain to a person, let alone Maka. But if he didn't tell her, no one would, so he continued, knowing that even though dealing with Soul after all this would be no easy task, she needed to find out, even if it was from him.

"Soon after, Soul noticed a change in Mia. Every time he grabbed up her hand, or accidentally bumped into her, she would get scared and take a few steps away from him, shaking her head, or sometimes even get angry. After noticing these changes, Soul tried his best to be more gentle, but as a weapon, it was harder for him to control his strength when he had had little to know training as a scythe.

He also noticed Mia entering Seth's bedroom more and more often, and after a few minutes she would come out pale-faced, but he could never hear what they were saying. It was then that Seth one day returned home carrying a large box with a bright red ribbon wrapped around it, and the two kids rushed over, eager looks on their faces..."

xxx

"_Go ahead, open it!" He told them, and they both shared excited glances before tearing the box open. Both were pleasantly surprised when a small, fluffy golden retriever puppy leapt out of the box and licked both of their faces until they were covered in slobber. Seth grinned, and then they were all laughing and smiling together as Mia cuddled the puppy, Soul by her side as both faces took on expressions of total joy.  
_

_"We have to give him a name, remember," Seth reminded the two, and thoughtful looks appeared on Soul and Mia's faces as they tried to come up with a name for the apparent male puppy Seth had just brought home. Suddenly Mia's face lit up._

_'"Can we call him Teddy? Because I used to have a teddy bear named Teddy, before he got caught in the lawnmower..." She trailed off when Soul shot her a stricken look, and Seth smiled gently._

_"If it's okay with Soul?"_

_ Soul nodded in agreement when he addressed him, so Seth picked up the struggling puppy to get a good look at him. He wagged his tail, brown eyes shining with happiness._

_"Yes yes, Teddy will do just fine." He announced, and Mia cheered. But it didn't matter what they named the puppy._

_His fate was already sealed._

_

* * *

_

**A/N:**Some serious foreshadowing going on there, as you might've noticed. I've chosen August Ninth to update because squee! It's my birthday. Yes, the big one four has just come to pass- I took the day off work and hung out with my cousin. It was great until dinner when my mom had to bring up the previous week, and how I had "misbehaved" at my cousin's place. Total bull- I'd been nothing but nice to them. It was all just a combination of bitchy nannies, jealous ten year olds and annoying people in general- but we don't need to get into that. How were your weekends, my lovely reviewers? Thank you for all the encouragement- I got a new laptop today and it's awesome. So now that I've successfully transferred all of my files on to the new one, I'm ready to write.

**Disclaimer: **I disclaim any rights to Soul Eater. How o you lawyers keep getting in here, anyway?_ Exterminator!_


	29. Reason, Pt 3

Green and white, with those wonderful words written across it, _"review"_... wouldn't it feel great to press it?

* * *

"A few weeks passed and Teddy was growing. But in the meantime, although she was now quite wary of Soul, Mia wanted to hear him play a song. She no longer trusted him the same way she had the day they'd met, as that childish bond had been slowly broken down by Seth, but she was never one to give up, so Mia insisted that he play. And after one long night of nagging, he finally gave in...'

- -x-X-x- -

"_Soooouuulll... Pleeeeaaase? Pretty please? Pretty please with a cherry on top? I promise I won't laugh, or anything like that...' She whined, and he suddenly spun around, an angry glint in his red eyes._

"_Mia! I really don't want to play! Can't you just let it go for once in your life?" He shouted, and she cringed back, that now all too familiar twinge of fear entering her eyes that had first started the first night she had gone into Seth's room with him alone._

_'But... I really, really, REALLY wanna hear you play!'_

_'I know you do, you've made that quite clear,' He snapped and she seemed to shrink in on herself, resolve crumbling. Sighing, he put a hand on his forehead and leaned forward so that his head was against hers. _

"_I'm sorry for yelling, this is a really touchy subject for me-"_

_She flinched away from his touch, and hurt entered his red eyes. Sliding away, he was left leaning against the back of the couch while she was standing in front of it, not meeting his eyes._

"_I know it is. That's why I want you to play it so badly. Maybe once you see that it's really nothing to be so ashamed of, you won't be so scared when it comes to playing a single song on the piano!" She told him breathlessly, and he didn't say anything. The silence continued for a few minutes when he finally let out a deep breath._

"_Fine. You win. I'll play... but just know I'm going to regret this__.__" He stated, remembering the first time he had thought that when he had first met Mia. He had been wrong then- that had to count for something, right?_

_Lifting himself up, he met her excited gaze solemnly before making his way over to the piano seat before sitting down and opened the top of the dark wood to reveal the beautiful ivory keys that stretched out in front of him. Taking another deep breath, he lifted his fingers over the ebony and ivory keys, and then dropped them, breaking out into a dark tune he had never played before. _

_The notes flowed smoothly into his head, new ones and old ones, and then he was in a whole new world, where all that existed were him and the piano. He wasn't even conscious of Mia perched on the edge of the couch as his hands moved fluidly over the keys and splashed down, creating a twisted sound that, when put together, created a beautiful melody that was at the same time terribly haunting, like a horror story that told more than words could ever hope to describe with a harmony of well-timed high keys. It started out fast, then went slower through a crescendo before speeding up again, and when he was finished, he reluctantly opened his eyes to look at Mia._

_She was sitting there, staring at him with the most shock he had ever seen on her face before, and looking in the corner of his vision, he spotted Teddy looking at him with the beautiful brown eyes wide and scared. He whined and rushed off with his tail between his legs, fleeing into Seth's room. Mia cast one last long look at Soul before following him as fast as she could, shutting the door behind her and jumping up on the bed, grabbing Teddy and pulling him into her arms._

_Soul walked over to the couch and collapsed on it, looking at his hands. He knew it. He __knew__ it, he knew it, _**he knew it**, _and yet he had done it anyway. God, what could he have possibly been thinking! Mia probably _hated_ him now! _

_He put his face in his hands, staring through the cracks of his fingers onto the couch as he always did when he had been reduced to a mess of silent distraught hysterics__._

_Oh god, why had he let her talk him into playing?_

- -x-X-x- -

"So... Mia hated the piece?" Maka asked Shinigami in astonishment. How could anyone ever hate any of his music? It was so beautiful and different- it wasn't scary in the least, unless he tried to make it so.

"In reality, yes. She hated it. She had been shocked, and thought that only a truly twisted person could ever come up with such a dark song, so fear drove her into hiding within Seth's bedroom. When he came home, Soul was nowhere in sight, leading him to stroll into his own room and find Mia sitting deficient focus, Teddy on her lap as she absently stroked his back, lost in thought."

- -x-X-x- -

"_Mia?" Seth called with fear in his voice, and she looked up in shoke. She was shaking, he could see that, and Seth rushed over to her side, worry apparant in his eyes._

"_Mia, are you okay?" She looked up at him._

"_Seth, have you ever heard Soul play the piano?" She asked, and he shook his head. Mia looked back down to the dog she was stoking, who was also still looking shaken._

"_Oh."_

- -x-X-x- -

"But once again, this only helped Seth achieve his goal- to exact revenge on the culprit of his fiancé Tressa's murderer, who he believed was Soul."

"But then why did he adopt him?" Maka asked, and Shinigami answered in a bittersweet tone.

"Maka, surely you've heard of it, right? That saying- keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer."

She nodded, finally understanding what he meant as she pieced together the events of what Shinigami had just told her. It was terrifying- everything was going according to plan. If she didn't already know that Soul was going to live through this, she would begin to fear for his life. But that didn't explain where the Mia was at this moment, if Soul was out wandering the halls someplace. If that's where he even was right now; Maka really had no clue where he had gone. She had just stormed off, angry. It suddenly hit her, one of the things he had said-

"_You can't take her away from me! She's mine! You can't have her!_

The words wrung out in her head like some kind of twisted echo, making her cringe.

"_Not again!"_

"So then even _that_ was a part of Seth's plan?" She asked, incredulous, and Shinigami shook his head. She watched him carefully and waited for an answer.

"No, he didn't plan that. How could he have possibly planned such a thing? Needless to say though, even if he hadn't predicted it, it only served to speed up the process of slowly tearing the two friends apart. He wasn't about to complain, not when the entire issue had only served to assist what he had intended to happen." Maka shuddered. What a dangerous and cold person. If Black Star killed Soul, would she try to do the same to him?

_But it's different, _she told herself, _I'm not in love with Soul..._

"After that, Mia herself was beginning to believe that it was quite possible for Soul to have been the murderer. That would be the last day of peace for him. So when he sent Mia into her own room, Seth simply glanced at Soul as he would normally and acted as if everything was normal, throwing a bagel in the toaster and handing him a piece before bringing Mia one as well. It was that night that he would finally exact his revenge- everything had been put into place and if his predictions proved accurate…"

- -x-X-x- -

"_Oh, Soul, I have to work late tonight, so you'll have to go to sleep tonight without me. I'll be here by the morning though..."_

_

* * *

_

**A/N: **Sorry about the month break, things have been quite eventful in my life. No, I don't plan on abandoning this fic, I know where it's going and I know how to get there, so everyone can chill. On a brighter note, I received nearly twenty reviews for the last chapter! Thank you all, really... makes my dad.

Irrelevant, but I have switched from French Immersion into English, and I feel like a top-notch student. Everything is just so _easy... _I can't see why you guys can complain about school when your work is pie. _Pie, I tell you. _Blasphemy!

So, I have about fourteen pre-writes left in my two laptops, I'll try and squeeze out a few more. Thanks for reading everyone! A couple months and we'll hit the one-year mark... wow.

Peace,

Mads (Ma-chan!) 8D


	30. Reason, Pt 4

Click to make my day.

* * *

- - - - -

_Soul awoke to a piercing scream, and ran out of his bedroom to find Mia white-faced and mouth agape, tears running down the sides of her face. She backed away, shaking her head as she sobbed, and Soul ran over to where she was, reaching out for her. She turned even paler upon seeing him, if that was even possible_– _her pallid complexion gave her a ghostly appearance. Stumbling away from him and trying to put as much distance as possible between the two while her hands stretched in front of her, she looked almost as if she were trying to ward off his presence. But that couldn't be it…_

"_S-stay away from me!" She cried, and a surge of emotion threatened to knock Soul off his feet. No. He had been hearing that all his life, but never from her. Not her._

_He averted his gaze, eyes traveling down to the ground instead._

_Big mistake._

_Lying on the ground only a few feet away from them lay Teddy, covered in blood. His eyes were wide and glazed, and between the growing pool of blood beneath him and the puppy's glassy exterior, it was clear to anyone with eyes that he was dead. A large gash had opened up the side of his small figure, leaving him to bleed out._

"_Teddy!" Soul choked out, dropping to his knees in an attempt to somehow resurrect the family pet, but Mia had moved from her place a couple feet away from her, terror quickly changing to rage. Falling to his level, he looked up just in time to be roughly pulled away from the dog and shoved in the opposite direction, astonishment crossing his face._

"_Mia, what are you–"_

_Slap!_

"_Don't play stupid, Soul Eater Evans!" She roared, causing him to back away from the fury she was displaying. What was going on? Why was Mia angry at _him? _A time like this called for fast action, like finding the number of a close-by veterinarian and helping the golden retriever lying motionless a few feet away from him. Denial had already flooded his system, whispering that the puppy could be saved, and that he would live...  
_

_And then another thing registered within his young mind –Mia had just called him by his first name. She'd _never_ done that… because she'd always told him that it was menacing and unfit for such a caring person. Why would she__–_

"_How could you? Mia raged, taking long steps away from him once again so that the two were across the room from each other, "he trusted you! Why would you…" A sob through her lips again as she struggled to control her emotions, "why would you…"_

_The venomous glare returned full force, making Mia impulsively grab the ceramic lamp sitting darkly on the table beside their couch and launch it across the room, smashing against the wall not far from where Soul had been standing seconds earlier. Oblivious to his panicked and bewildered take on the situation, her ferocity carried on, unabated._

"_I didn't want to believe that you did it! I wanted to believe that it wasn't you, but Seth was right! He was right all along!" Mia shrieked, pitching a nearby vase of flowers at him. It struck the wall again as Soul jumped out of the way, heart pounding._

_What the hell was going on–_

"_You killed them, didn't you? How could I have ever thought that you… that _you…"

_Then he realized it. She thought he did this. She thought he killed Teddy. And with that, she now believed that he killed everyone else, too. _

_That he had killed his own family._

_The only person that had ever treated him like a normal was now turning against him, with the faith he'd thought she'd possessed gone from her mind after months of slowly being broken down._

"_Why did you have to go so far, Soul?"_

_Soul backed up against the wall, staring up at his best friend in mute horror. This couldn't be happening. He was just sleeping, and this was nothing more than a really, _really _vivid nightmare._

_But the look on her face was real. The dog at his feet was real. And the pain in Soul's chest was real._

"_Mia!" he finally found his voice, "you can't think I really did those things! Why would I ever, ever want to do something like that?"_

_He shook his head in protest to the events, trying to suppress with all of his might the feelings of anguish and betrayal that had come with the affair. She couldn't really be doing this. It was some kind of sick, sick joke… she'd be laughing in a minute, and he'd be storming off into his room, leaving her to find him later and apologize. Then they would go to the park, and play with Teddy._

"_I wouldn't hurt them. You know I wouldn't –you know me!"_

"_I thought I did!" She shot back, crawling into the kitchen as he backed into the wall, putting even more space between them. She just felt so wrong right now, so upset… half of her hadn't even registered what was going on. Mia was seeing red, as it were._

"_I trusted you… I kept telling him he was wrong, that you hadn't done it, and that even if you had, you'd changed…"_

_A harsh sob wracked her frail body, but she plowed on,_

"_But you're the same as what they say, Soul Eater Evans."_

_He felt himself break._

"_You're a killer."_

"_I'm not!" He howled, cornering her with the red eyes that she'd thought she had all figured out. "You don't know! You don't know anything!" He wrapped his arms around himself in a hug, trying to keep it together. Everything had gone wrong. And now, things were beginning to flow into his head. Images, little things that he'd missed in his ignorance of the fact that everyone in his "home" thought he was a murderer. Her constant flinching, the glances of distrust, and her general avoidance of him...  
_

"_And now… Teddy… and everyone…" Mia's face crumpled, her anger slowly fading into grief once again. She brought slender, pale hands up to her face where the tears that continued to cascade down her cheeks through the entire ordeal had become illuminated by the moonlight shining through the large window across from them._

"_H-how could I have been so c-completely wrong about you?" The misled girl hiccuped, murmuring unintelligible things as she continued to sob uncontrollably. Soul stayed put, partly because he was afraid she would attack him if he came any closer, and partly because he was unable to move from where he was._

_His best friend –no, his _only_ friend– was crying right in front of him; heartbroken and full of insatiable disgust for him; she couldn't possibly make it any clearer to him how she felt. So now, watching her through his overwhelmed scarlet eyes, he found that he hadn't the strength to summon up even a scrap of remorse at the sight of those tears. Those were _his_ tears –_she_ was turning _her_ back on _him_– the last thing he planned on doing was apologizing._

_Things couldn't possibly get any worse; he'd simply hit rock bottom. And after that realization, for the moment, his being was overcome by anger as the feelings of complete betrayal and intense hurt were pushed to a far corner on his mind that he wouldn't call upon until weeks and weeks of shock wore off.  
_

_It just didn't make any sense –things didn't add up. He'd always been good. He'd listened to his parents, worked hard in school, smiled at strangers. Of all the people for this to happen to... why would it happen to him? Worse people had gone through less, he was sure of that. Was this some kind of trial? A sick game that whatever god resided up there in the clouds one day decided to mess around with?_

"_Mia!" He roared, addressing the whimpering girl, who looked up in apprehension as he attempted to pull himself together, the instinct of an Evans boy coming into play for the first time in years. He regarded her with cold eyes, despite the desperateness that was still clawing at him from its place deep in the recesses of his bruised and confused mind._

_"You're wrong. I don't know who committed either of these crimes, but it definitely wasn't me! And if you never believe me, then fine! I'm done with this!"_

_He tried to make a dignified exit towards the door, but found himself instead stumbling, clutching at the walls to steady himself. It was like he'd been spinning for the past hour and had suddenly come to an abrupt and wrenching stop._

_And then Soul found the handle of the door, pulling it open as far as he could just as he cast one last look at the blond girl who was huddled pitifully on the floor._

"_Someday you're going to realize that you were wrong about all this. That you were wrong about me, and about Seth, and about whatever he told you. And when that day comes..." he began walking out the door, finishing just before it closed._

"…_don't come looking for me."_

- - x-X-x - -

Maka stared at the ground for a long time, still trying to digest all the information she had learned within the hour. It was as if everything she'd thought she'd known about Soul had turned out to be a different person. Of all the people she had seen Soul interact with, she had felt that she knew him the best out of all of them.

Now she just felt lost.

How come Maka had never asked him about any of this? Why had it had to be done this way –laid out in front of her by Shinigami's reluctant words, and leaving her feeling bewildered and confused.

Shinigami said nothing, but he calmly sat and waited as the minutes passed with Maka making no move to go from anything but perfectly still, her attention solely focused on the ground, yet seeing something entirely different –the scenes of what Shinigami had told her had caught up to her besieged train of thought and were now slowly unfolding within her imagination. It was as if the entire thing was happening to her– but emphasis on the as if part. She could hardly imagine what it would be like if it had happened to her –how would she cope if Soul had picked out all her insecurities and pounded them into her head that they were right and she was wrong?

His withdrawn attitude had always been a mystery, and even when she learned of his family, she wondered why he refused to trust any of their friends, creating an entire identity for the outside world to enjoy and mock to their heart's content.

But now the girl was finally beginning to understand. Why should he trust anyone? Everyone he'd ever grown attached to have either died, betrayed him, or simply walked out of his life. He had no one left, and Maka realized with a pang that that was probably why he was so stubbornly pushing everyone away from him. He thought he was dangerous. Someone so selfless had been forced to endure this kind of treatment at a young age… everything seemed to click into place.

If she could kill anyone in the world at this moment, it would be Mia.

But then again... Mia wasn't entirely to blame. She had been toyed with by that Seth, his twisted words sounding so reassuring, so honest and hesitant and innocent–

Maka shook her head. What was she thinking? No matter what, she would never allow herself to fall into such an ignorant hell as that. She knew Soul –no matter what doubts she felt after hearing this story, deep down, she still believed that she knew him like no other.

And in the end, that's what set her apart from Mia.

She believed.

- - - - - -

* * *

**A/N: **Well, that was eventful, wasn't it? I had to practically rewrite that chapter, it was so windy and direct and bleh. You'd be turned off this story immediately if I had released the original. Anyways, thank you so much everyone for the reviews! Oh my God, I'm actually gonna hit five hundred reviews... I quit my job for anyone wondering, there was this hoe at work who'd all but take over my place, and everyone began treating me like a dishrag... I got fed up. Oh well, I earned a good four hundred bucks from that place, it was a nice summer job.

**Disclaimer: **Pants McGee.


	31. Like A Doll

Joey Tribbiani reviewed for me. _Why can't you?_

* * *

"What happened to him after he left the house?"

Shinigami looked at her, long and hard. She didn't flinch, waiting patiently for the answer and understanding that the man was now trying figure out what she was thinking.

Indeed she was correct. Said death god was carefully assessing the girl's emotions to the best of his ability, trying to figure out what her intentions were towards figuring out the truth.

She seemed almost calm, but he knew he wouldn't be able to brush her off at this point anyway, knowing he was in too deep. Besides, Soul Eater would probably be storming into the room any second now, raging about how it was unnecessary for her to know the truth. Like Maka would ever be able to accept that.

With a long, dramatic sigh, Shinigami found that the best solution would be just to get it out and tell her the ending so that she could say she knew everything. Soul was afraid that Maka would just be another "Mia", no matter how impossible that was. It was no secret that a certain amount of trauma can cause paranoia thought; the head of Shibusen wouldn't tell anyone what the future would bring even if he _did_ know.

"After he left the house, it was about three weeks before anyone realized he was gone. Seth didn't say anything, and neither did Mia; in fact, the two might as well have dropped off the face of the Earth. They up and disappeared before anyone had a chance to find out what happened."

Maka peered at him curiously, breathing out evenly to keep her expression in check.

"Then how do you know all this, if neither of them were ever apprehended?" Shingami waved his hand, answering lightly,

"Isn't it obvious? Soul told me. Months ago, when he was first taken to me, I was still head of a school for techs and scythes, and it just so happens that Soul himself is a weapon, isn't he? Who better to talk to the brat than me?"

But it seemed out of character for Soul to just pour his heart out to a random stranger, so there was no shock when Maka asked her next question.

"Why'd he tell you? It's not like you two had met before, right?" Shinigami's shoulders slumped at the question.

"Well, for the longest time he wouldn't tell me a thing. I keep at it, and he was really stubborn, keeping quiet and withdrawing himself from everyone else. If you think the kid's unstable right now, you should have seen him when he was first brought to me. It's like all the events that had happened in his lifetime were being held back by a twig or something –how he managed not to snap and just go on a rampage still keeps me wondering at night."

Maka swallowed hard.

---------------- - -x-X-x- - ----------------

_It was a cloudy day, the worst kind of weather –not rainy enough to keep you inside, and not sunny to make you want to go outside, but just the right amount of gloom to make everyone unsure of what to do with themselves to the point where they'd get into their cars and just drive around town with no real destination._

_Shinigami had gotten a call from the local orphanage about a scythe that they'd found living on the streets, with no records on any guardian responsible for the boy's care. Apparently the child hadn't said a word since they first found him –he wouldn't even look at anyone in the eye. After nearly three weeks of constant attempts to get the boy out of his shell and talk to a counselor or a shrink, they still hadn't had any luck. It was pure chance that one of the police lieutenants remembered his description from some rumors flying around that they had managed to identify him as Soul Eater Evans._

"_He's a scythe," someone had argued from the crowd of people currently responsible for him. Soul was sitting in a chair not too far away from them, staring at the ground unblinkingly with dark circles beneath his eyes. "If anyone will get him to talk, it's Shinigami. He's an expert on the species for crying out loud!"_

"_She has a point," Another person agreed, nodding his head sagely. "We are getting nowhere. Scans show that he is in perfect health, and brain activity is actually a little more advanced for his age __–it's obvious the problem isn't physical.__ We should be trying anything we can at this point __–t__he kid hasn't said a word to anyone, or even looked us in the eye! What do we have left to do? He's totally healthy!"  
_

"_Physically." The first woman muttered, glancing over at the boy. He looked like he was in some kind of conscious coma._

_Finally, an authoritative voice broke over the arguing enough to quiet the rest down, speaking up commandingly,_

"_I have spoken to Shinigami-sama. Mr. Evans will meet with him tomorrow at ten o' clock a.m.. All objections from this point onward will be ignored."_

"_But–" Somebody attempted to break in, although he was cut off before he could finish by the same man's voice, more sharply this time around._

"_Need I repeat myself?"_

_The person fell silent._

"_Very good, then. Now, if somebody would please be kind enough to escort Mr. Evans to his room..." The nameless woman slipped out of her chair and made her way over to the white-haired scythe, taking a hold of his hand and pulling him up out of the chair before guiding him to his temporary bedroom._

---------------- - -x-X-x- - ----------------

_Soul once again found himself being pushed in the direction of a door. The one that he looked up at now though was unfamiliar, clean and polished and rather intimidating. He had been told that behind the door was someone waiting to help him. To understand him._

_He'd play along._

_The woman, the one seemingly most concerned with his case, was once again by his side, murmuring encouraging words to him as she held open the door. No one was allowed to go with him into Shinigami's office –to be honest, she was a little worried. What if Shinigami upset Soul, and there would be no familiar face to run to?_

_Not that anything of the sort had happened up to that point. Not a single word from anyone had managed to make him look up, meet someone's eyes, shed a tear, or even flinch. He just sat there like some kind of doll. She was frightened._

"_Are you ready, Mr. Evans?"_

_As usual, Soul made no kind of confirmation. He just walked through the doors and kept walking, even after they closed behind him, hiding the woman's face from his view._

_After a long passage through the strange room, Soul was met with a black figure sitting happily on a red chair, seated directly across from an empty one with the same design as his own._

"_Soul Eater Evans!" The black-clad stranger seemed delighted to see him. He blinked owlishly, pausing a few meters away and awaiting further instruction. Shinigami gestured to the chair, so he walked over and took a seat, ruby eyes fixed on a cloud passing over Shinigami's head. Clouds, indoors? He'd never seen such a thing._

"_So, care to tell me how you ended up on the streets, Soul?"_

_Soul hadn't made any kind of plans to open up to his latest psychiatrist, but being called that brought back memories he was dedicating all of his time and energy into __**not**__ thinking about. He breathed out sharply, still keeping up the delicate mask of indifference, and continued the silence he'd managed to hold for three weeks already._

"_Why are you keeping quiet? Are you afraid we'll be angry with you?"_

That's not it, _he thought silently, mildly surprised with himself. Normally he would just zone out, and stop hearing whatever people were demanding answers to all together, like a waking sleep. But for seem reason his mind was being drawn to this man. A more instinctive part of him._

_"Or are you afraid we will ask something that brings up a bad memory?"_

_He made no motion that he was listening besides a panicked twitch of his hand, but Shinigami didn't miss it. What was wrong with him all of a sudden? None of the other people he'd spoken to had gotten this close to the truth in their first five minutes. They were all convinced he had some kind of amnesia or brain damage. Soul thought that he was not so lucky to be able to move on so easily._

_"You want to cover something up. Like an event in your past?"_

_This time, Soul had to bite his tongue. He wouldn't talk. He wouldn't look up. There wasn't a chance in hell that he'd open that can of worms just because of this man's incessant babbling. He didn't know what he was talking about._

_"You want answers."_

_His teeth clenched._

_"And deep down you know that by keeping up this silence, you're just running away."_

_Soul's hands slammed down on the arm rests as he flung himself out of the chair, and walked out of the room as briskly as he had come in._

_--------

* * *

_

I did not wake up this morning with the intention of updating. However, I just watched the last episode of Code Geass and it was _damn unfair and sad!_ So, with nowhere else to turn, I needed to talk to _someone_ about it, and thought maybe some of my reviewers have watched it and share my pain. It's just... _why?_ It didn't have to end that way!_ Nothing had to end that way!_ And even though I hated the end simply because it was so effing tragic... I was satisfied, in a way.

For those who haven't seen it... I don't recommend it to people that are big fans of manga types like Shugo Chara or Ouran Highschool Host Club, since it's really different than those (even though I'm a big fan of both x3)... but to people who liked Death Note, Code Geass puts it to serious shame. And by serious shame I mean DN doesn't even compare. Also, it has really AMAZING openings and endings.

So, I ramble on about Code Geass on the AN of a Soul Eater fic... somehow, I like it. To everyone who reviewed, huge thanks! I'm getting so close to five-hundred now...! If you appreciate me updating today, then you must either spill your heart out to me about CG, or admit that you like Amuto fanfiction for Shugo Chara. Because I _do!_

Oh... and yes, I believe Earth should be capitalized just as much as God should be. We'd all be dead without Mama Earth –least we can do is give her a capitol E right? x3

**Disclaimer:** I don't even know anymore! *bashes disclaimer sign in with a sledgehammer* SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME? SEE WHAT I'VE BECOME? I DON'T EVEN _OWN_ A SLEDGEHAMMER! DAMN YOU, CODE GEASS!

----------------


	32. Breakdown

So close to 500 reviews! Help bring my dream to life!  
BTW – strong language in this chapter.** Viewer discretion is advised.**

* * *

- - - - -

"The people at the office were confused. Each time they asked why he refused to go back to talk to me, he would shake his head and say nothing more on the matter. This was big because up until that moment, Soul had _never _acknowledged their presence before, never mind give any kind of response to their questioning, even if it was an irrelevant one.

"Four days passed before Soul was finally forced into speaking with me again. They were convinced I'd lied about something, even though I showed them the tape of what had gone down in my quarters. They were sure I'd committed treachery to make him like this... ridiculous."

Maka's wide eyes reflected wonderment in Shinigami's direction. He seemed slightly unnerved.

"Don't go thinking I can read minds or something Maka, I'm just good at gauging people's body language and responses. I also knew a little about his family's past as well, anyone could have gotten him to talk–"

"No," she interrupted him appraisingly, "not anyone. You opened his eyes in your first meeting." He shook his head, answering simply,

"I can't take all the credit – because I'm Shinigami and he's a scythe, his own instincts were telling him to hear me out. That was something I had over the rest of the people that had tried to get him to speak." Maka shot him an amused look, moved by the modesty the ordinarily bubbly headmaster was now displaying.

"Alright, it doesn't matter. Please continue."

He abided, but the man was still impressed with how she was handling the scenario. Rather than getting angry about the whole thing, or overly sympathetic to the point of annoying, she was taking it all in stride, drinking up the information coolly and professionally like it could help her better understand her partner. It showed just how mature Maka was becoming, and it reminded him painfully of her mother.

"On the second time around, I apologized to him for prying so carelessly. He kept up his perfect facade of silence, but he understood that neither of us was fooled. Soul was always very talented when it came to reading people, much like I am. Although I must admit, the cold and indifferent way he was handling his trauma had me concerned. I hardly had time to admire it back then... by the time he got around to saying anything to me, it was proven just how damaged he was."

- -x-X-x- -

"_Soul-kun. Thank you for coming back!"_

_Soul ignored him, taking a seat in the same place he'd sat in last time. He stared at the floor, waiting for his companion to start so that he could get out of here as soon as possible. The quicker this interrogation went the better._

"_I'm sorry for attacking you like that before. The last thing I want to do is pressure you."_

_His hands balled up into fists, and he bit his lip. He was so ready to lash out at the man that seemed to be able to tear down his defenses so easily. Months had passed without speech, there was no way he'd break down his protective walls just for one stupid diss in the arrogant man's direction._

"_Are you angry?"_

_No response. Shinigami sighed, speaking out quietly with a, "I believe that's a yes. Soul, the three steps to recovery _are_ anger, denial, and acceptance."_

Shut up, _Soul wanted to rage. Oh how he wished he hadn't let himself be dragged back here again. _What makes you think you know everything now? You weren't there. I've never even spoken to you before. _But Shinigami continued._

"_You're mad, I get it. What happened to your family–" –he wanted to hit him so badly, _so badly_– "–wasn't fair. Of course you're going to feel resentment. But you need to acknowledge your past– it's there, no matter how much you wish it wasn't. Tell me what happened, okay, Soul-kun?"_

Don't call me that! _He thought, silently fuming._

"_You aren't going anywhere. You'll never be able to get past this if you keep up the show of apathy."_

I know what I'm doing! _Even Soul knew he was grasping at straws now._

"_...You need to move on."_

_He snapped._

"_What the hell do you know anyways, huh? What do you think I've been working to do this whole time!?"_

_If Shinigami was surprised in the least that after such a long silence the kid immediately began speaking out, he didn't show it. There was no way that Shinigami was going to suddenly yell out, "Holy– you can talk?" _

"_Your methods are all wrong. You're just holding yourself back–"_

"_And you'd know! Who do you think you are?"_

"_I want to help you__–__"_

"_Bull! I can do this by myself, alright? Where has trust ever gotten me? Like hell I'm gonna sit here and listen to you talk like you know anything__!"_

_Once again, Soul stormed out of his chair, but before he could make it to the door, Shinigami had caught his wrist. Furious, Soul lifted his eyes to meet Shinigami's black ones __–__ the man almost gasped. Now wonder the boy wouldn't meet anyone's eyes – he was most likely trying to spare them the heartbreak of seeing what had happened to them. It was hard to keep his cool when faced with the very incarnate of unfairness and distrust. This kid was barely thirteen, so why was he looking into eyes such as these? Soul should be going to school, not therapy.  
_

"_Face it, Soul. You're running away." The teen wrenched his arm out of Shinigami's grasp, stumbling a few steps back while clutching the appendage to his chest._

"_No I'm not!" He threw back, glaring at him. His humiliation only grew when he felt tears well up in the corners of his eyes, but there was no way he would let the damnable shrink see him cry._

"_You're in denial!"_

"_I am not in denial!"_

"_You knew this was going to happen. Don't fight it, Soul. Just let go – all we want to do is help you.__"_

"_Don't tell me what I think! You don't even know me!"_

"_Soul_–_"_

"_Fuck you!"_

_Suddenly the door slammed open, revealing the woman with a few of the other officers._

"_We heard screaming_–_" She began to explain before she saw Soul standing a few feet behind his chair, teeth clenched and hugging himself. It was clear that he was panicking. Obviously, by the way the boy was looking around for an escape route, he felt cornered._

"_Give him some room," She told the quickly advancing men, who all stopped in their tracks and looked at her for further instruction. After showing such concern, she had been placed in charge of his case._

_Soul's eyes also flickered to hers, and the amount of built up stress, trauma and terror held in them nearly brought her to her knees. They had thought he might have been a victim of child abuse, but she could see now that they had underestimated the kind of damage they were being faced with. This was psychological, not physical – something much, much harder to repair than simple flesh wounds._

"_Soul Eater..." She murmured his name. He shook his head, biting his lip so hard it began to bleed as he backed up until he hit a wall, staring around at them as if he thought they'd jump on his any second._

"_D-don't," he whimpered, and then his knees gave out until he slid down the wall, staring at his hands as finally tears fell down his face. The woman took a step forward, and when he gave no more protest, she made her way over to his hunched form, offering a hand. He didn't take it. He was still trying to get over the fact that he was crying –his pride had some serious issues with that. In fact, he'd allowed himself to completely fall apart in front of these strangers, and the smartass in black. How did it end up this way?_

"_He still has a long way to go," Shinigami said quietly from his place behind her, and she nodded._

"_Soul, would you like to go back now?" _

_A numb kind of nod was the only response she managed to get from him as he picked himself up off the floor and headed back the way he came, keeping his head low and hiding his face in his hands. He couldn't believe it. He'd actually shown tears. The shame he was feeling couldn't even compare to his anger from moments ago. _

_How could he let himself become such a wreck?_

- -x-X-x- -

"The next day he came back again, to my astonishment, and began to tell me what happened. In the span of a week he'd told me everything, and then from there on out I enrolled him in Shibusen. His class mostly ignored him, and he hadn't made any progress in the trusting-other-people department until you came along. You've shown some serious growth, Maka-chan."

She blushed a pretty shade of pink, looking at her hands which were resting on her lap. So that was it, huh? Why Soul wouldn't speak what he felt, why he was so reluctant to tell her anything about himself, and why the amount of trust he'd placed with her seemed so little to her and so huge to him.

It only made her that much more determined.

_I'll show him,_ she thought fiercely, eyes narrowing in resolution,_ how people are meant to treat others. I'll give him a reason to trust people. We'll make it,_

Shinigami eyed her approvingly,

_I know it._

_- - - - - _

* * *

**  
A/N:** Happy Halloween, my kittens. Two sorries for you today – sorry for the language (was NOT going to have Soul saying Golly Gee in this chapter or anything else like it), and sorry I took a while to update– I went through a Black Cat obsession again, and lost a considerable amount of muse. It's not much of an excuse, but for me, writing for a story while I'm in over my head for a different one is really hard. Anyways, after reading practically every TrainxEve oneshot on the site, since I'm cool like that, I've decided to update XD

For everyone staring at the word "complete" up there in astonishment, allow me to explain. I have zero intention to end the story here – how mean would that be? No, I just thought it'd be better if I started a sequel and uploaded new chapters rather than keep making this chapter get loner and longer. I prefer reading stories in parts, since I usually loose interest in excessively long stories, so... my advice? Toss me onto Author Alert to catch the next update. I'll be uploading under _Walk By._ Look forward to it.

To everyone for reveiwed, I read all of them. I never really get around to replying to most of them, but I want you to know I loved each and every one. **Novalia1001 **made me squee inside with her words - greatly appreciated, it was a major ego boost to hear that. **Prieva** left a really nice long one too, and one last thing. To **Fantasy Fan Girl, **who has been with me since the very beginning, cookiesx10. Everytime I look through my reviews and see your Edward Elric avatar, I smile :)

Alright, question to the reviewers: what did everyone do for halloween? Let's hear it, I love hearing stories like these. I was a deviant housewife ;) I spent it watching reruns of Halloween specials with my bff. Help bring me to 500 reviews!

Hope to see you all in the next portion of _Piano_. I love you!

Mads.


End file.
